Results 15,501-15,520 of 32,572 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Book Sales (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Officials in the Department of Finance referred the Deputy’s question to the Central Bank of Ireland. The Central Bank have advised the following: "When a consumer takes out a loan from a regulated lender (“the original lender”) it is subject to all the relevant Irish and EU consumer protections. Most loan agreements include a clause that allows the original lender...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Cost of Insurance Working Group is currently implementing the 33 recommendations from the 2017 Report on the Cost of Motor Insuranceand the 15 recommendations from the 2018 Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance. The seventh Progress Updatewas published last November and shows that of the total number of 78 separate relevant deadlines within the Action Plans of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy refers specifically to a figure of ‘almost €100 million in relief carried forward’ which he suggests could be offset against tax in future. I assume the Deputy is referring to the information provided in Row 47 of Table 3 of the 2016 Revenue report entitled ‘Analysis of High Income Individuals’, specifically with regard to the 346 cases where...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Household Debt Statistics (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Over the last decade, the household sector has undergone a significant period of active deleveraging. Since its peak of €204 billion in Q3 2008, the level of household debt has decreased by 32 per cent, or €66 billion. At end-Q3 2018, household debt stood at €137.5 billion, or €28,316 per capita, and is now at its lowest level since Q3 2005. Irish household...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 37 together. As outlined to the Deputy in previous PQ responses (including PQs 7359/19, 48428/18 and 40780/18), stakeholder consultation formed the foundation upon which the two primary reports of the Cost of Insurance Working Group and the accompanying recommendations were developed. This consultation process involved a wide range of stakeholders...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Commissions of Investigation Data (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Commission was established by order of the Government, on 13th June 2017, pursuant to section 3 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 ("the Act"). The Order of the Government establishing the Commission is set out in the Commission of lnvestigation (National Asset Management Agency) Order 2017 (S.l. No. 267 of 2017). Under that Order, the Taoiseach was appointed as the specified...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Sector (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government’s strategy to develop the international financial services sector, ‘IFS2020’, was launched in 2015. The annual Action Plans under the IFS2020 strategy for 2017, 2018 and 2019 included measures to support a regional development. Employment in the sector under the IFS2020 Strategy has not been limited to Dublin. Over a third of the jobs are located in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Operations (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that subject to current market conditions prevailing NAMA projects a surplus in the region of €3.5bn to be returned to the State once it completes its work. The realisation of this surplus depends on the redemption of NAMA’s remaining subordinated debt by March 2020 and completion of its Dublin Docklands SDZ and residential funding programmes. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As matters stand, the timing and nature of Brexit remains uncertain. However, it is clear that all forms of Brexit will have a negative impact on the Irish economy. The more disorderly the UK’s exit is from the EU, the larger the economic impact will be. Further the implications for our economy will be disproportionate relative to those for the rest of the EU. The most negative impacts...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Irish VAT legislation is governed by the EU VAT Directive and in accordance with the VAT Directive any amount which a supplier is entitled to receive forms part of the taxable amount. Therefore, where a restaurant, hotel, etc. presents a bill for a meal or any other service, all charges included are liable to VAT. This includes an amount or percentage in respect of a service charge regardless...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Aid (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government profoundly disagrees with the Commission’s analysis in the Apple State aid case. An appeal is therefore being brought before the European Courts. Such an appeal takes the form of an application to the General Court of the European Union, asking it to annul the Decision of the Commission. The Attorney General prepared the legal grounds in support of the annulment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tracker Mortgage Examination Reports (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank of Ireland published its latest update on the Tracker Mortgage Examination on 4 February ()which indicated that:- - the number of affected customers stood at 39,800 at end-December, an increase of 1,400 since end-August 2018; - 97 per cent of verified affected customers have received their redress and compensation at end December 2018; - redress and compensation payments...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Improvements in Ireland’s competitiveness have been at the cornerstone of the recovery in the Irish economy. Since 2008, the Central Bank’s real harmonised competitiveness indicator has improved by approximately 21 per cent. The restoration of competitiveness has been hard-won through improvements in productivity, along with wage and price moderation. Importantly, the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Costs (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group was established in July 2016 and undertook an examination of the factors contributing to the increasing cost of insurance in order to identify what short, medium and long-term measures could be introduced to help reduce the cost of insurance for consumers and businesses. The initial focus of the Working Group was the issue of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 42 together. As the Deputy is aware, the second phase of the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) project culminated in the publication in January 2018 of the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public Liability Insurance. The Report makes 15 recommendations with 29 associated actions, detailed in an Action Plan with agreed timelines for...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fitness and Probity Regime (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the Central Bank Reform Act 2010, the Fitness and Probity Regime, provides the Central Bank with powers to ensure the fitness and probity of nominees to senior roles in regulated firms. The Bank has put in place a pre-approval process for persons who apply for relevant positions (Controlled Functions) in regulated firms, to ensure that they meet the required standards of fitness and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Staff (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the Irish Retail Banking Culture Report provided to me by the Central Bank in July 2018, Diversity and Inclusion Assessmentswere undertaken and each bank was instructed to submit an outcome-focused diversity strategy supported by an implementation plan, containing, at minimum, clear expectations, implementation targets and a range of measures of diversity. These plans are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Preparations (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that their preparations do not include any plans for infrastructure at the border with Northern Ireland and this is in line with the Government’s position that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland. Revenue Chairman, Niall Cody, set out this position clearly when he and Revenue officials appeared before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Codes of Conduct (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The background to the issuing of the Code of Practice on the Transfer of Mortgages (the Code of Practice) by the Central Bank of Ireland in 1991 was that mortgage customers were offered free shares in their building society which gave them the right to vote on the conversions of building societies to public limited companies. Additionally, securitisations were becoming more prevalent during...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Board (28 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 25 of the NAMA Act provides that it is for the Minister for Finance to appoint the Chairperson of the Board of NAMA. This appointment may be made from amongst one of the existing ordinary members of the Board or the Minister may appoint a new member to assume the role of Chairperson. As currently constituted, there are seven members of the NAMA Board and two vacancies arising from...