Results 1,621-1,640 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Yes, it does. The rebate of 4% applies if the property lies within a curtilage of one acre.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The sustainable development goals were adopted in 2015 by 193 UN members, including Ireland, and consist of 17 high-level goals and 196 targets. While not legally binding, both developed and developing countries are expected to take ownership and establish national frameworks for achieving the goals by 2030. A senior officials group led by the Department of Communications, Climate Action...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will just make a few observations before reading the departmental note. The figure that the Senator put out there of €70 million cannot be taken in isolation. The old age pension payment is the biggest payment in the State and amounts to €7 billion. It is €7 billion out of the €20 billion social protection pot. It is not just a question of putting €70...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I have been working on this since 12 October, and we are nearly there. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe and I spent 19.5 hours on this section on Report Stage in the Lower House. This is the first balanced budget in a decade. That is quite an achievement considering the era we have come through, which has been difficult and pretty awful for many. People get going and kept working; they kept...

Paradise Papers: Statements (8 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I thank the Chairman. The Paradise Papers is the name given to a collection of documents published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and was reported to media outlets worldwide in recent weeks. Coverage of the Paradise Papers has included coverage of the tax affairs of certain individuals and companies. I do not propose to comment on any individual taxpayer or...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I have had this conversation with the Senator on multiple occasions. I disagree with her view. People have heard me say many times, both here and in the other House, that the major adjustment in Irish society is the income tax take. According to the figures up to the end of November 2017, the income tax take is €18.3 billion to date. That is with a month to go until the end of the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Senator disagrees with that.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I have to dispute that again. The budget that went through the Dáil is giving the largest ever quantity of money - €15 billion - for the public side of health. A further €6.5 billion is being provided for the private side of health. When both figures are added together, it is clear that our expenditure of €21.5 billion on health for fewer than 5 million people is...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: In this Finance Bill, the Government has provided for an increase of €200 in the earned income credit to bring up to the value of €1,150 per year. This €200 increase provides a significant benefit to small business owners across the country, including retailers, publicans, farmers and tradesmen. It is estimated that the credit will be of benefit in approximately 151,600...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I appreciate what Senators Horkan and O'Donnell have said. They will be aware that, although it is not provided for in the Finance Bill, the Minister in his budget speech said that we will try to encourage and incentivise the use of electric vehicles. We have moved beyond a one-year opportunity for the benefit-in-kind incentive and it will form part of the next budget and, it is hoped, the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will continue from my comments to Senator O'Donnell on the previous section. Senator Horkan's recommendation would create a new section because it requests a report and this is the appropriate section under which to deal with it. The Senator is requesting that the Minister prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas within three months of the passing of the Bill. That...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: It will be done but not within three months. Everything for which the Senator is asking in respect of the benefit-in-kind for electric vehicles scheme will be considered in 2018.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: As the Senator is aware, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has expanded the scheme from one year to a minimum of three to five years. He has committed to doing that in October 2018 for application in 2019. We expect the report to be completed in the next six months in order to be available for the budget in October 2018 for-----

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: It will be done within 12 months and is likely to be completed within six months. Although everything the Senator is asking for will be done, that will not occur within a three-month period.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will read the note in a moment. One of the measures we are ensuring in this budget is that we are not hollowing out the tax base. In fact, the opposite is the case. We had Sinn Féin complaining on Second Stage about the raising of stamp duty back to 6%. The 2% rate is the emergency rate, the war time rate. The 6% rate is the normalised rate. It was 9%, and I believe on one...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Yes. It is €10 million. As a result, what the Senator said was incorrect.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: That is what I am trying to provide. When I am in different parts of the world trying to encourage companies to come to Ireland to establish operations, the biggest criticism I hear relates to the early point at which people pay the higher rate of tax rather than the actual rate. Companies understand the higher rate, but the point at which one hits it in this jurisdiction is the second...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The companies get no advantage; it is the individual.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I forgot that. It is the individual. The relief operates by allowing the employee a more advantageous tax treatment on gains arising on the exercise of qualifying share options. Gains realised on the exercise of KEEP share options will not be subject to income tax, PRSI or USC at the date of exercise. The gain will, however, be subject to capital gains tax on the future disposal of the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (6 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will not repeat what has already been said. Senators Kieran O'Donnell and Horkan are exactly right. This scheme was designed to try to help smaller companies hold on to important staff. This is a real issue, particularly in rural Ireland. Bigger companies with 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 members of staff are able to pay higher wages so this is a method through which we can try to help the...