Results 15,661-15,680 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Written Answers — Public Service Employment: Public Service Employment (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: The policy on numbers employed in the public service has succeeded in cutting back on the rapid rise in public service employment in the period 1997 to 2002. This took place at a time of significant increases both in employment in the economy generally and in the population with the corresponding increased demand for public services. Numbers employed in the Civil Service, Defence, Local...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 141 together. The Deputies might wish to note that in the period in question, average tax rates have fallen for all categories of taxpayer and, for 2006, an unprecedented number of low paid income earners are projected to be outside the tax net altogether. In addition, the latest OECD data relating to the year 2005 indicate that for the single worker on...

Written Answers — Price Inflation: Price Inflation (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: Inflation, as measured by annual changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 3.8% in April. A large proportion of the rise in the annual inflation rate is due to external factors such as higher oil prices and recent rises in interest rates by the ECB. On the assumption of unchanged interest rates, I expect inflation to moderate in the second half of the year. Higher inflation would lead to...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: Latest figures show that over 14,600 FOI requests were made in 2005 compared to about 12,600 in 2004. The number of FOI requests made by journalists has also increased. According to the Information Commissioner's recent Annual Report, 963 requests were made by journalists in 2005, compared with 870 in 2004. The level of FOI requests being made by journalists is still down on that witnessed in...

Written Answers — Credit Union Regulation: Credit Union Regulation (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: In my address to the Consultative General Meeting (CGM) of the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) on 29 April 2006, I acknowledged the success of the credit union movement in Ireland and the opportunities and challenges for the future. In that context, I noted the important role of the legislative and regulatory framework in influencing the future development of the credit union model. I...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: Interest rates are currently very low in historical terms, and the recent increases would appear to have had a limited impact on the economy so far. Future impacts depend on future increases and on the state of the EU and world economy generally at the time.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I have always been willing to consider matters relevant to my Ministerial responsibilities which have been raised in this House or elsewhere and where appropriate to take steps to allay any concerns which prove to be soundly based. I understand that the report to which the Deputy refers was published only last week and is relatively wide-ranging. I will have it examined and its conclusions...

Written Answers — Home Reversion Products: Home Reversion Products (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: Home reversion products primarily involve the sale of a part of the interest in a property. Unlike Equity Release Mortgages they do not constitute a financial service that would be subject to supervision by the Financial Regulator. However, I recognise that there are strong similarities in purpose and procedures between both types of transactions and that both products appear to compete for...

Written Answers — Revenue Investigations: Revenue Investigations (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that arising from the Clerical Medical Insurance/NIB inquiry, 465 cases have been targeted for investigation. To date, 308 cases have been settled on payment of tax, interest and penalties amounting to a total of €53.82 m. A further 122 cases have been finalised with no additional liability arising. The remaining 35 cases are the subject of ongoing...

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: Public procurement guidelines issued by my Department require contracting authorities to ensure that tenderers have regard to minimum pay and other legally binding industrial or sectoral agreements when preparing tenders and that tender documents should have an appropriate reference to this. Regulations to transpose recently revised EU Directives on public procurement, currently being...

Written Answers — Tax Yield: Tax Yield (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: There is a 2% stamp duty that is charged on most non-life insurance premiums and is part of the normal stamp duty system. The exceptions are re-insurance, voluntary health insurance, marine, aviation and transit insurance and export credit insurance. It was introduced in 1982. The yield over recent years has been as follows: Year Yield (€m) 2000 57.0 2001 69.1 2002...

Written Answers — Special Savings Incentive Scheme: Special Savings Incentive Scheme (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: As part of its consumer protection role, the Financial Regulator reviewed a sample of SSIA documents sent by financial institutions to their customers to see that they are clear and transparent. Some financial institutions had, along with the SSIA4 form, sent other documents to their customers, including direct debit mandates and forms for other savings products. The Financial Regulator was...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 147 together. I reject entirely the Deputies allegations about the role and equity of the indirect tax system. A simple look at the facts will show that the conclusions in the report referred to are misdirected. Firstly, there is no VAT on the main low income items such as food, oral medicines, children's shoes and clothing. Secondly, most excise...

Written Answers — Special Savings Incentive Scheme: Special Savings Incentive Scheme (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: My Department has been analysing the potential effects of the maturing of the SSIA scheme on the economy. The impact will crucially depend on how the savings and the monthly subscriptions are used. Unfortunately, projecting the likely spend-save ratio is a difficult task, not least because it is not possible to draw on previous domestic experience as a basis for anticipating the effect....

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I have no proposals for the Information Commissioner to be consulted in relation to the merits of extending the FOI Act to the bodies mentioned by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I would like to state the Government's full commitment to the decentralisation programme. The Decentralisation Implementation Group chaired by Mr. Finbarr Flood was established to drive the process forward and to oversee its effective delivery. The Group, recognising that it would not be feasible for all organisations to move at the same time, proposed phasing arrangements and revised...

Written Answers — Social Partnership: Social Partnership (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: As the Deputy is aware talks on a new national partnership agreement to follow Sustaining Progress are ongoing and it would be imprudent to make any detailed statement at this stage about these talks which cover a wide range of issues. However, I might reiterate what I have said recently and that is that we can only pay ourselves what productivity allows if we are to maintain our...

Written Answers — Social Finance: Social Finance (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: As I set out in my reply to Question No. 60 on 30 March 2006, the aim of the initiative is to give an impetus to the development of, and make a real contribution to expanding, Social Finance provision in Ireland. The Social Finance initiative will, therefore, complement the wide range of measures that are currently in place to promote and assist community infrastructure and local development,...

Written Answers — Insurance Products: Insurance Products (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: My Department received correspondence on this issue yesterday from the Department of Social And Family Affairs and will be arranging discussions on the issues raised in relation to income continuance plans. The Deputy may be interested to note that Insurance Undertakings providing income continuance policies are regulated by the Financial Regulator. As such the provisions of the proposed...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (23 May 2006)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 126 together. The one parent family tax credit is a credit that can be claimed by a single parent (whether widowed, single, deserted, separated or divorced) who has a dependent child resident with him/her for the whole or part of the relevant tax year. A child includes a child of the claimant, a stepchild, a formally adopted child, an informally...