Results 16,301-16,320 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Finance Bill 2006: Financial Resolution. (7 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I move: 1. THAT section 812 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which deems the owners of securities to have received income where the owners sells or transfers a right to receive interest (including dividends) without selling or transferring the actual securities, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this resolution. 2. THAT the...

Diseases of Animals Act 1966: Motion. (7 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I move: That Dáil Éireann resolves that section 17A (inserted by section 2(1) of the Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act 2001 (No. 3 of 2001)) of the Diseases of Animals Act 1996 (No. 6 of 1966) shall continue in force for the period ending on 8 March 2007.

Finance Act 2004: Motion. (7 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following order in draft: Finance Act 2004 (Section 91)(Deferred Surrender to the Central Fund) Order 2006, copies of which have been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 22 February 2006.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (2 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The numbers of self-assessed income earners whose main source of income is from non-PAYE sources are set out as follows. Year Self-Employed income earners 2001 208,100 2002 207,000 2003* 210,000 2004* 212,000 2005* 215,000 * Provisional and subject to revision. The numbers above have been rounded to the nearest 100 as appropriate. The numbers of income earners for the...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (2 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The current scheme for tax relief on donations to approved bodies, which includes donations made to charities, is governed by section 848(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The scheme was introduced in the Finance Act 2001 and claims under the scheme arose from 2002 onwards. Arrangements for allowing tax relief for donations depend on whether the donor is a PAYE taxpayer or an individual...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (2 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The following table lists the names of all board appointments made by me or my predecessor since March 2001. Name of State Body Name of appointee Central Bank of Ireland (Replaced by CBFSAI on 1 May 2003 Mr. Tom Considine Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI) established 1 May 2003 Mr. John Hurley Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority Mr. Brian...

Written Answers — Vehicle Registration: Vehicle Registration (2 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium negotiated a treaty some years back to facilitate the exchange of driver and vehicle registration information between the participants through an electronic system, known as EUCARIS. The treaty has quite a narrow scope and its aim is to identify and prevent international trade in stolen...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (2 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The Revenue Commissioners advise me that under their published guidelines for the operation of PAYE and PRSI for certain benefits there is no charge to tax in respect of a van which is in a "van pool". A van can be treated by an employer as being in a van pool if: the van is made available to, and is actually used by, more than one employee and is not ordinarily used by one employee to the...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that it is not possible to supply a complete listing of all food items which are subject to the 21% rate of VAT. In general, under paragraph (xii) of the Second Schedule to the Value Added Tax Act, 1972, most food sold by retail shops is liable to the zero rate of VAT. This includes most basic foodstuffs, for example, bread, butter, tea, sugar, meat,...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: Stamp duty is a charge on documents, which are mostly legal documents, used in the transfer of property. Where a property is purchased or swapped, stamp duty is charged on the conveyance or transfer effecting change of legal ownership of the property concerned. Under the stamp duty code, a builder or developer can obtain a licence from a vendor to build on land owned by the vendor without...

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the number and value of drug seizures made by customs officers at Dublin, Shannon and Cork Airports in each of the past five years is as follows: Year No. of Seizures Value â'¬ 2001 361 3,532,700 2002 274 4,173,500 2003 381 5,157,000 2004 1,302 4,725,100 2005 1,110 5,507,700 In total, Customs have made 3,428 drug...

Written Answers — Customs Staff: Customs Staff (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that there are 71 customs officers based at Dublin Airport. This figure includes officers engaged on both enforcement and trade facilitation work. Additionally, for special enforcement operations, the Dublin Airport resource is supported by enforcement officers from locations within the Dublin region. There are 26 at Shannon Airport, which also...

Written Answers — Customs Staff: Customs Staff (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: Revenue's Customs service is continuously engaged in the analysis and evaluation of seizure trends, routes and smuggling risks and consequential resource deployment. In the past five years Revenue has relaunched its drugs watch programme and increased its use of drug detector dog teams with the introduction of dog units. X-ray technology is also deployed to detect concealments in baggage and...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the overall percentage of incorrect tax credit certificates, TCCs, that issued in 2006 was relatively small. Where errors have arisen these have now been corrected and employers have been notified of the revised credits due for the majority of affected employees. Any remaining amended notices will have issued to employers by the end of this...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I take it that the Deputy is referring to public relations and media advice services in the years 2003 to 2005. My special adviser did not engage such services.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (1 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I have no current plans to change the scheme in the way suggested, having just reviewed it. As regards the areas mentioned, there are already very significant supports for the arts and film industries through the tax and public expenditure systems. I believe that demands for changes in any scheme should take account of the overall context.

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (28 Feb 2006)

Brian Cowen: It has been the practice in responding to previous questions of this nature, in the interests of currency and accuracy of information, for individual Ministers to respond in relation to their own areas of responsibility. Accordingly, I will arrange for details of bodies under the aegis of other Ministers to be supplied directly to the Deputy by each Department. The public bodies under my...

Written Answers — Social Finance: Social Finance (28 Feb 2006)

Brian Cowen: The aim of the Government's initiative that I announced in my Budget Statement is to give an impetus to the development of social finance in Ireland. I believe the initiative can make a real contribution towards expanding social finance provision in Ireland, thereby complementing the wide range of measures that are currently in place to promote and assist community infrastructure and local...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (28 Feb 2006)

Brian Cowen: In my role as Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the legal framework governing financial regulation. In the context of the regulatory system put in place through the establishment of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, IFSRA, under the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2003, responsibility for the operation of the regulatory regime and the...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (28 Feb 2006)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 73, 105 and 127 together. The Government announced last August its decision to prepare a successor to the current National Development Plan, 2000-2006. The next NDP will cover the period 2007-2013 and its preparation will be co-ordinated by my Department. A high level steering group chaired by my Department and comprising senior officials of relevant...