Results 16,801-16,820 of 35,756 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The outstanding recommendations in the Thornhill report are quite straightforward. It is more the issue of property prices and the sudden shock many households across the State will face in 2020 when the revaluation freeze comes to an end. Many households will move up not only one band but multiple bands, which will cost hundreds of euro per annum to those households. The Department...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I understand from where Mr. Hogan is coming. From the point of view of the officials, the Government has signalled that, to a certain extent, it no longer wants what it originally introduced. Sinn Féin warned the Government about what would happen if a local property tax was introduced. In my view it is not a property tax but I shall not rehearse our arguments about what constitutes a...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Will the Department consider the fact that the tax or charge has been levied on people who are in negative equity and mortgage arrears? Some people who lost their houses in the past couple of years were subjected to the mandatory deduction of this tax as sheriffs knocked on their doors and took the keys to their houses.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: On the deferrals, obviously there are no exemptions for the classes of individuals that I have identified. There are some exemptions but not for genuine householders. There are deferrals with interest rates that were quite punitive. What are the interest rates again? Are they still 4% and 8%?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: And 8% if there is non-payment?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: No, deferral is if a person is actually one of the poor in society and is able to avail of the deferral. For those-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Does Mr. Hogan have any view on the 4% when we look at the interest rates that are prevailing at present? The deferral is something to which a person is legally entitled. Not only must that money be provided at some point in the future but there is also an interest rate of 4%. No bank in the State will provide a person with a 4% interest rate on any savings.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Has Mr. Hogan any idea how many new homes will come under the local property tax once the new evaluation date kicks in 2019? Obviously, new-builds are exempt from it. How many new home properties are we looking at?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That is okay.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The Department is using that dodgy way of calculating new houses, which are the ESB connections. I thought the Department of Finance was a bit better than the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Mr. Hogan is making me sweat over here now, with the Department of Finance is using the-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That is fair enough.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Obviously, just using that, it is 62,000, and possibly more, until last year. With two more years of new connections, there is probably in the region of 80,000? Is that correct?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Yes, but during the-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: We are talking about anything up to 80,000, bearing in mind the way that the figures are being calculated. Anything up to 80,000 or 90,000 properties that are exempt at present from the local property tax will incur a first charge in 2020.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The other issue then is the stamp duty. I was interested in Mr. Hogan's opening statement. I was reflecting on it with the Revenue's post-budget ready reckoner, which showed a €2 million increase on the 0.5% rate for commercial stamp duty. He makes the point in his opening statement that "We are advised by Revenue that, adjusting for possible one-off transactions in 2016, receipts...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I will revert to the question. How long does the Department expect it to continue? Mr. Hogan's statement says "it seems reasonable to expect this level of activity is sustainable and for it to continue". How long is it expected to continue? Is it that we will get over 2018, we will have €9 billion of property transactions, we will meet the target and it will then drop back to what...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I agree 100% with the rates. I have no problem in that regard. I believe we should have done this last year because in my view there is a bubble emerging in commercial property, particularly around Dublin. The amount of commercial property that has flipped over the last number of years is unbelievable. It amounts to one third of the centre of Dublin. There is potential for over-heating...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax and Commercial Stamp Duty: Department of Finance (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: That leads me to the following point. To achieve the revenue identified in the budget document, there would need to be €9 billion worth of commercial property transactions. It is expected that this level of activity will continue into 2018. Is the Department of the view that it will continue not only in 2018, but in 2019 and 2020? If it is, I am a little worried because I believe...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Discussion (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I want to take up that point. Is it not the case that we cannot appoint public interest directors because the legislation that allowed us to appoint them was tied in with the banks having funds guaranteed by the State, which is no longer the case so the option of public interest directors is no longer available, and that because the Government did not make appointments when other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Discussion (16 Jan 2018)

Pearse Doherty: It was a major failing on the part of the Government not to have public interest directors in respect of the roles public interest directors could have played during this crisis but having said that, even when we had them, the Government or the Minister at the time did not use public interest directors with regard to directly reporting to him. This was a major failing as well because we have...