Results 16,861-16,880 of 32,602 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy’s question, I have included the requested information in relation to external consultant reports commissioned by my Department since 2011 in the following table. Commission date External Consultant Report Name Cost Published/Expected Publication date 2018 Benchmarking of Ireland’s Payments Industry Indecon International Economic Consultants...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Yield (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that traders are not required to separately identify the yield generated from a particular activity or product type on their VAT return. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the VAT collected from forms of gambling subject to VAT.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland’s gold reserves are held at the Bank of England. In accordance with Article 127(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 3.1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the European Central Bank (ECB), it is an ESCB task to hold and manage the official foreign reserves of the EU Member States (which includes gold). The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. I have no role in day to day supervision of the insurance industry, as this is the responsibility of the Central Bank of Ireland. In that regard, the Central Bank of Ireland has two specific mandates as regards insurance supervision. Firstly, it is responsible for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Building Finance Ireland Establishment (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) is being established as one of a number of measures to address the housing crisis. It will provide a source of funding for small to medium sized residential developments on a commercial basis. The Home Building Finance Ireland Act passed remaining stages in the Oireachtas two weeks ago and was enacted in the past few days. Much progress has been made in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is Ireland’s national promotional institution with a mandate to deliver effective financial supports to Irish SMEs. I am advised that complaints may be made through the SBCI’s information and enquiries email address, which is info@sbci.gov.ie. The SBCI is a Designated Activities Company (DAC) under the Companies Act 2014 and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Increases (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The 9% VAT rate was introduced as a temporary measure in Finance (No. 2) Act 2011, to cease at the end of 2013. This period was subsequently extended but during last year’s Finance Bill a commitment was given to undertake a review of the 9% VAT rate. This review was published in July 2018 and the Budget decision to increase the VAT rate was made following that analysis, which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ministerial Meetings (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that details of public events I attend are available in my diary which is published on my Department's website at www.finance.gov.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Review (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The report of the review of the LPT is currently being finalised in conjunction with the Departments of the Taoiseach, Public Expenditure and Reform, Housing Planning and Local Government, and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. I will of course carefully consider the conclusions and recommendations of the report when it is presented to me. The purpose of the review is to inform me in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry Regulation (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Setanta Insurance was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. The Deputy will be aware that the Insurance (Amendment) Act 2018 (Act 21 of 2018) was signed into law in July this year. Section 12 of the Act provides that the State Claims Agency may, from...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the following table includes the total number of applications received, approved (successful) and rejected (unsuccessful) under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers scheme for the years 2014 to 2018 (year to date). Revenue has also confirmed that for years prior to 2014, the only records retained relate to ‘approved applications’....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As you may be aware, the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a fuel grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax. To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my replies to recent Parliamentary Questions from him on this matter (Nos. 164 and 158 of 13 November, No. 7 of 22 November, and No. 179 of 20 November). The review of flat rate expenses is ongoing, and Revenue have indicated that the effective date for implementation of any changes to particular flat rate expense categories will be 1 January 2020. All 53...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy’s question, my Department has not awarded any contracts or tenders to the company in question.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As indicated in my previous reply to the Deputy in response to Parliamentary Questions 54 and 55 on 22 November 2018, the Revenue Ready Reckoner presents, on page 10, a table showing the estimated cost to the Exchequer of a 1% indexation of credits, rate bands and exemption limits for Income Tax and the Universal Social Charge. Increases greater than 1% can be estimated on a straight-line or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank advises that the macro-prudential mortgage lending rules are formulated on the basis of housing loans made by mortgage lenders. Therefore, lenders are required to report to the Bank, and are being monitored by the Bank, on the basis of mortgage drawdowns as opposed to mortgage approvals/sanctions. The Central Bank does not collect data on mortgage approvals for the purposes...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 154 to 156, inclusive, together. The Central Bank regulates the licensed moneylender sector. It is, of course, a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing. The Central Bank has...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Illegal Moneylenders (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank regulates the licensed moneylender sector. As of 27 November 2018, 39 firms are included on the Moneylender register with the Central Bank. This can be viewed from . It is, of course, a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation which the Central Bank is the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Regulation (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 38 1(a) of the Credit Union Act 1997 prescribes that the interest on a Credit Union loan shall not at any time exceed 1% per month. I can confirm that the power to increase this cap has not been vested in the Central Bank and therefore whether the 1% per month interest limit for the credit union sector should be increased is a matter for the Minister for Finance, Government and the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (4 Dec 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I presume the Deputy is referring to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the SBCI. The SBCI is Ireland’s national promotional institution for SMEs. The SBCI does not provide financing directly to SMEs, rather, it uses an on-lending model and works with both banks and non-bank finance providers to make lower-cost finance available to eligible enterprises. The SBCI currently...