Results 1,541-1,560 of 34,585 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 8: In page 38, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 2 of Act of 2010 61.Section 2 of the Act of 2010 is amended— (a) in subsection (1), in the definition of “Community”, by the insertion of “, subject to subsection (4A),” before “has the same meaning”, (b) in subsection (4),...

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: Absolutely. I can confirm that.

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: The Deputy has asked about section 46. The section allows UK insurance companies without a presence in the State to obtain tax approval for contracts under section 785 where they are authorised to transact insurance business by the authority in the UK which is responsible for supervising such undertakings. This will mean an individual whose pension is administered by a UK insurance company...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the committee for making time available today to consider my request for a Supplementary Estimate for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. As Deputies know, it has been an exceptional year, and there have been some significant and unforeseen factors that have impacted on the Revenue’s funding.The Supplementary Estimate for Vote 9 is to meet the 2020 shortfall associated...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I will give one additional item of information that members might be interested in. Essentially, the Revenue expected some years ago that the required additional staff to deal with Brexit would have been in the order of 600. The estimate during the course of the year was that that figure will eventually be 900. Over 700 of those are currently in place and working. The recruitment campaign...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: On VAT and the amount tourists can claim on spending in the country, that matter is coming up in the Brexit Bill in the Convention Centre later this afternoon. There is a specific amendment on that issue. That is not in place as we speak. It is a proposal in the Brexit legislation that will be dealt with on Committee Stage in the Convention Centre this afternoon. There are amendments down...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: It concerns the container scanners, which had not been subject to that level of maintenance for a number of years. A couple of years' maintenance was actually carried out in the one year. Maybe it should be done annually but it was not. That is why there is an exceptionally high figure for the fleet of mobile X-ray container scanners at Dublin Port, Cork Harbour and Rosslare.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: Again, I take the point. It is probably a matter that will be dealt with in pay talks concerning not just the Revenue Commissioners but also the public sector in general. It has been a big issue right across the public sector. Ministers have made comments on reducing the time people have to spend in offices. I assume that, for the coming year, the Revenue Commissioners will operate...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I do not have that information today but I will ask the Revenue Commissioners to provide an information note to the committee on it. As I may have mentioned previously, approximately 600 staff were employed originally to work on customs as a result of Brexit. One hundred and seventeen of these people, who had come from other sections in Revenue, went back to their posts in the past year but...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I agree completely with the Chairman, who has mentioned the principal concern. The big companies are geared up but the small companies are the ones that are going to have a difficulty. Some will get quite a shock in the first two or three weeks of January if they do not get ready between now and the new year. An example might be a garage that imports equipment to repair cars. It might...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: The Government and the Revenue Commissioners have the resources but the small businesses will not. Bearing in mind the example I gave, the problem will arise the first time a company that is not ready customs-wise to deal with Brexit tries to import something. For some companies, it could be the end of January or 1 February. For others, it could be 3 January or 4 January. The problem will...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: We are satisfied that the Revenue Commissioners are fully ready for Brexit in every respect. Our only concern is for those small businesses that are not ready. Revenue, customs and the ports, in terms of premises, additional parking and other facilities, are ready. For example, the animal border control post at Rosslare Port was completed last week. Dublin Port completed terminal 10 and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: May I make a final comment?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Supplementary) (25 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: The committee will have received a letter from me yesterday providing additional information requested at the previous Estimates meeting. One of the requests was for a detailed note on the disabled drivers and passengers scheme, the Department's intention and policy direction and a breakdown of expenditure. The committee should have received the letter in the last day or two, which was...

Seanad: Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: This Bill gives effect to the dissolution of the Credit Union Restructuring Board. In summary, the Bill provides for the dissolution of the Credit Union Restructuring Board, the transfer of certain functions of the Credit Union Restructuring Board to the Minister for Finance and makes the relevant amendments to the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012. I will give...

Seanad: Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank Senators for their contributions and support of this legislation, which will formally dissolve the Credit Union Restructuring Board, ReBo. The Government recognises the importance of the role of the credit union sector as a volunteer and co-operative movement and the distinction between it and other types of financial institutions has been stated well by several Members. There were...

Seanad: Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I am nudging them into mortgage lending. It is the main message I have for credit unions. They should start giving mortgages to people, as those people would be happier taking a mortgage from a credit union than a bank which could sell the loan to an international vulture fund. I have never heard of a credit union doing that. I thank Senators for their input and I look forward to...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I appreciate the Seanad Éireann facilitating the taking of two Bills relating to credit union activities this evening. The Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019 has already gone through the Dáil and it should complete its passage through the Oireachtas next week. This Bill is starting here and will have to go to the Dáil but we want to ensure it is...

Seanad: Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Senators for their contributions on, and support for, this legislative measure which will formally amend the Credit Union Act 1997 to allow for general meetings, which are prohibited under the current health restrictions, to proceed. Some of the amendments will be permanent and will continue to operate after the interim period early next year. The Bill also amends the Fiscal...

Investment Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (12 Nov 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank Deputies Ó Murchú, Redmond and Nash for their contributions. While I accept the point that this is a technical Bill, it deals with many significant issues. On beneficial ownership and who will be the ultimate owner, the provisions in this Bill strive to achieve the objectives mentioned. These amendments will ensure that the highest international transparency standards...