Results 17,141-17,160 of 32,610 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Question Heading for question(s) 56 (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Inflation in Ireland has been subdued for several years. Based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) inflation was just 0.3 per cent in 2017, this marked the fifth consecutive year in which inflation has been below 1 per cent. The subdued level of inflation has continued into 2018, with average inflation of just 0.7 per cent in the first ten months of the year. By contrast,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government priority now is to work towards the finalisation of the draft Withdrawal Agreement and the political declaration on the EU-UK future relationship. Any Brexit scenario will mean change and impact for Ireland. My Department is working within the whole-of-Government framework overseen by the Department of Foreign Affairs to mitigate the economic impact of Brexit and to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Finance, I attend the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union (ECOFIN) which is responsible for EU policy in areas including economic policy. I also attend meetings of the Eurogroup, where the Ministers of the euro area Member States discuss matters concerning their shared responsibilities related to the euro. The Eurogroup’s main task is to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Growth (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland’s economy is expected to continue to grow at a robust pace in the coming years. As I outlined in Budget 2019, my Department has forecast GDP growth of 7.5 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2019. This growth is expected to be broad based, with both domestic demand and net exports making positive contributions. Indeed, modified domestic demand, which strips out some of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Finance continues to monitor developments in the construction and housing sectors with a view to identifying potential macroeconomic risks. The biggest such risk is a continuation of the present situation, in which supply falls significantly short of demand. If left unchecked, this shortage could increase affordability pressures, damage our competitiveness and harm our...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The economic recovery in Ireland was driven by a significant improvement in competitiveness, through productivity increases and wage and price moderation. The economy maintains this competitiveness today. Ireland’s real harmonised competitiveness indicator, a widely-used measure of competitiveness published by the Central Bank, has improved by approximately 21 per cent since its peak...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As you are aware, the Cost of Insurance Working Group published its Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance on 10 January 2017.  The Report makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, set out in an Action Plan within the Report.  Work is ongoing on the implementation of the recommendations by the relevant Government...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As published in Budget 2019, my Department has forecast GDP growth of 7.5 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2019. This growth is expected to be broad based, with both domestic demand and net exports making positive contributions. Indeed, modified domestic demand is forecast to grow by 5.2 per cent this year and by 4.1 per cent in 2019. As a barometer of how well our...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Data (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 66 together. I propose to take these two questions together as they relate to the flat rate expense regime operated by Revenue. I am aware that there have been some recent updates to Revenue’s concessionary flat rate expenses regime. In the first instance, it is important to note that there has been no change to the general rule set out in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Loans Sale (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Comptroller and Auditor General is independent in the exercise of his functions and therefore my Department does not have access to the information requested.  The C&AG does report publicly on material findings emerging from his work. Chapter 6 of the C&AG's second progress report on NAMA, published in June 2018, examined the processes applied by NAMA in eleven loan...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As I outlined in Budget 2019, our economy is in good shape. Following GDP growth of 7.2 per cent in 2017, GDP is forecast to grow by 7.5 per cent this year. While the GDP figures can be misleading in an Irish context, a broader range of measures including labour market and tax revenue developments confirm the economy is performing strongly. Despite the rapid rate of growth, the main...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Finance Bill 2018 provides for a number of changes to the operation of the Employment Investment Incentive (“EII”). One of these is putting the claims on a self-assessment basis, with the company responsible for judging whether or not it meets the company conditions, and the individual investors responsible for judging whether or not they meet the investor conditions. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 provides robust statutory protections for workers against the real or potential penalisation by their employers where they have brought concerns about wrongdoing in the workplace to light.  The Act provides for a "stepped" dislcosure regime in which a number of distinct disclosure channels are available - internal, "regulatory" and external - which the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Retirements (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my answer to PQ 46505/18 of 13 November 2018.

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will just deal with the questions that have been put to me, as opposed to giving a lengthier response. Deputy Doherty and I have debated this issue on many occasions and we have differing views on it. While he acknowledges the decision I made in respect of the change, he feels it should have been handled over a different period. I have offered my reason as to why I believe this is the...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: On the claim the Deputy made in respect of minimum effective tax rates, when we get to that motion in Private Members' time, I will be clear in my view that, first, any suggestion that we adopt a minimum tax rate would ignore the fact that each company is different and will, therefore, draw down a limited number of allowances in different ways and, second, that any message going out from...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I can.

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: They could name it after the Deputy.

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: "Boyd Barrett Pier".

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (21 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: A nice monument.