Results 17,421-17,440 of 35,756 for speaker:Pearse Doherty
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I know there is detailed information to be supplied on this issue. The question now is whether this lobbying was unsolicited. Did the funds write to the Department seeking meetings and so forth or did the Minister or his officials engage with the funds on the change they planned to introduce in the Bill?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State's officials should know the answer.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Is it the case that the officials present do not have information on whether the Department engaged with the funds?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: While I appreciate the Minister of State has agreed to provide the information I seek, is it the case that his officials do not have information on whether any of them reached out to the funds industry on the potential change to the Finance Bill?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 22:In page 29, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:“17. The Minister shall within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the ability of certain investors in Irish Real Estate Funds including pension funds and other investment funds to neutralise their tax liability in relation to either income and...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I will only discuss amendment No. 22 as I do not want to mix up REITs and IREFs. Some 79% of IPUT, the largest investor in the State, is owned by pension funds so there is no tax. It represents €2.2 billion of Irish assets but we are not taxing it. How does the Minister stand over that?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: That would be a welcome proposal as it is a similar timeframe.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: It would be welcome if the group looking at the tax strategy papers could carry out the work and publish it. We want to encourage people to take out pensions but less than half the country has a pension. We should not forgo tax on billions in Irish property so that the other half can get a better pension. This other half has larger incomes. Some 37% of the IPUT portfolio is made up of...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 23:In page 29, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “17. The Minister shall within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the impact that Irish Real Estate Funds and Real Estate Investment Trusts are having on residential property prices in the State.”. This also asks for a report on the...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I think it is close to €3 billion in REITs according to the latest valuations. The total value of Irish property within these funds is between €18 billion and €19 billion. The CSO has revealed that non-household buyers, a large proportion of which comprise REITs and IREFs, had purchased 42% of new homes in Dublin by the end of July 2017. In the middle of this housing...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Yes. I am baffled by the Minister of State's comments regarding the 0.2% of households.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Two of the 103 fund structures have close to 3,000 properties.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State wants to focus on the other 99% or so.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Does he not get what we are talking about?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Hang on a minute. Why does one not sell one's house to a first-time buyer who is trying to join the property market? If one wants to talk about them, there are people living in those homes. Focus on the issue at hand and do not be blowing smoke.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Let us deal with the facts. This is not about my mum's house, my house or people who are living in their homes. It is about properties that are coming onto the market for sale. Those first-time buyers cannot knock on their neighbours' doors and ask whether there is any chance of them giving up their homes so that the first-timers can buy them. They go to the market of houses for sale. ...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: Non-household buyers comprise a certain number of cohorts. We can get this information, although it will not be as accurate as what Revenue will provide in March following its analysis. We know what local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs, have bought. If we strip them out, we find that the figure has not reduced substantially. REITS and IREFs are hoovering up the market and,...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I am hoping to.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: I will withdraw the amendment on the basis that it is not just the breakdown of data from Revenue that is presented but an analysis of the impact of REITs and IREFs on property prices in the State particularly with a focus on Dublin where they are heavily concentrated.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)
Pearse Doherty: How quickly could that be analysed?