Results 1,641-1,660 of 34,833 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Investment Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this Stage of the debate. I want to put a few points on the record. I agree with Deputy Doherty that this legislation has improved from its original iteration in the previous Dáil in that there are greater procedures in place to identify the beneficial owners. Other than that, I...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Senator. The recommendation differs from that put forward on Committee Stage in that it proposes to exempt the PUP from taxation for the period prior to 5 August, rather than maintaining that the payment is not currently taxable.The Senator has accepted that the payments have been taxable since August and is now proposing that payments from March, when they were introduced, until...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: As set out in the legislation to which I have referred, that is, the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020, the period of applicability in the context of the payment is from 13 March onwards. That legislation was passed by this House on 29 July and then brought into effect on 5 August. I wish to confirm that those are the dates in question.I do not agree with the Senator's...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: We discussed the issue, the principle, the background and the information that led Senator Mullen to put this recommendation forward on previous Stages. We had quite a detailed discussion and the Senator provided a lot of information on the matter. Section 195 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the exemption of certain earnings of writers, composers and artists and allows the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: We are not excluded from making an artistic contribution to the country.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Regarding otherwise high-earning individuals, in addition to the €50,000 cap, those claiming the exemption that also avail of other specified reliefs, continue to be subject to the high earners' restriction, which limits the amount of tax relief that can be utilised in any one year to €80,000 before the restriction begins to apply. It is now a more limited scheme targeted at...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Recommendation No. 5 calls for a report on carbon pricing and carbon levies, outlining how the Government intends to apply the aforementioned principle between individuals and corporations, and the potential implications of such pricing and levies as regards costs associated with EU emission reduction commitments and future liabilities under investment protection schemes. The United Nations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it today to give it an overall view of the Government's new insurance reform agenda. This marks the first time I will do so in my role both as Minister of State with special responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance and as a member of the new subgroup on insurance reform under the Cabinet committee on economic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: The representatives gave that assurance to this committee publicly on behalf of the insurance companies they represent. They gave it directly to the Department of Finance more recently. In my meetings with insurance industry representatives over the past two months, I referred to the action plan for insurance, with its specific deadlines. The vast majority of the actions are to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: There are two halves to that question. The second half concerns information on profitability and costs. The Central Bank of Ireland is the regulator and has complete access to all that information on a company-by-company basis. Part of our work will involve greater liaison with the Central Bank from a governance point of view without interfering with its independence or regulatory role....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I have met representatives of the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar Council of Ireland on that issue. Their view is that their members are brought in only if a client comes to them. They say their members are not out looking for business. That is a moot point but what we are doing, as part of a key element, is engaging in PIAB reform. Under the action plan, there is to be public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: That is fine. The first aspect concerns getting more players and competition into the market so that we will not be just relying on eight or ten insurance companies. That is exactly the reason the new office was established. It was created to promote competition and it held its first meeting yesterday. We saw that one of the key problems was exactly as the Deputy described it. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: The only way of absolutely removing discretion from the Judiciary, however, is by constitutional amendment, and that is an issue. Some people might agree with doing that, but others might cite the example the Deputy gave at the beginning of a catastrophic case in which it is estimated that a person might live for 50 years when an award is being settled, but it might turn out that he or she...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: A constitutional amendment would, however, be required to provide for a legally binding set of awards in respect of the Judiciary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: If there is certainty regarding the level of awards, then the insurance companies will feel they are on firmer ground going into the courts. As the Deputy said, some insurance companies are currently shy about going to court and they pay to settle cases. Representatives from Insurance Ireland told me yesterday that its members accept 90% of PIAB settlements while challenging 10%. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: With regard to competition, I have already mentioned that we are paying the price for the cheap policies that were on the market for a number of years. They were so cheap as to prevent the companies issuing them from being viable. Quinn Insurance is the most recent example of a company that went under because it did not have the necessary reserves. As a result of that, we are all paying...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: We covered that when discussing the company which was most recently found not to have adequate reserves. That company no longer exists. It has been taken over and other people are running the business. I compliment the company that took over the business. It has been the most keen on helping young drivers under 25 years of age. It concentrates on that market, which is good. I hope it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I take the comments on board. I have listened carefully but I do not have the answers. I refer to cases being settled by companies without the policyholder's knowledge. He or she is not told about it until he or she goes to renew the premium and finds that it has increased. On 30 September we commenced sections of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act, as Deputy Doherty will be aware. At...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Does the Deputy mean currently or previously?