Results 18,301-18,320 of 32,610 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Other Questions: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I take the points made by the Deputies. I outlined the changes that have been made to the scheme since March in terms of the new form, the screening, the new telephone line and also the introduction of a case tracking process. We will have the work completed on the review of the scheme in advance of the finance Bill and I will take on board the concerns of the Deputies as I do that work.

Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes I am. We understand the reasons why there has been a further change in corporate tax receipts for this year and we are increasingly clear on what our likely end point will be for 2018. We need to take care, however, in assuming that will continue into 2019, 2020 and beyond. We have seen very significant shifts in corporate tax receipts over the past number of years and I will not be...

Other Questions: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The employment and investment incentive, provided for in Part 16 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, is an incentive whereby individuals who invest in certain companies obtain income tax relief on the amount invested. A number of conditions must be complied with. First, relief can only he granted to investors after ordinary shares have issued. Second, companies in which the investment can...

Other Questions: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept the Deputy's points. My objective is to have all of that work complete well in advance of the budget and to look at any points that need to be considered. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, we have made a number of changes at an operational level to deal with issues that have been raised on the operation of the scheme. We have brought in a new form because the original form was too...

Other Questions: EU Budget Contribution (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: A huge amount of work is being done in this regard. On the Deputy's question on my view of what the future level of contribution should be, if I was to say that here today, I would probably be the first Minister involved in these negotiations to outline a figure in regard to our potential contribution in the future. We are at the very early stage of these negotiations. At this point in...

Other Questions: EU Budget Contribution (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: To respond to the middle part of the Deputy's question, it is precisely because it refers to concerns we have about the funding of CAP, and the desire we have to protect, for example, funding of ERASMUS and research and development, that I am being careful in regard to putting a figure on a future Irish contribution. We are not engaged in a dialogue in this regard; this is a negotiation, as...

Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We have already done that. As the Deputy will be aware, a review of the Irish corporate tax system was undertaken by Mr. Seamus Coffey, an independent expert, and was published in 2017. It was open, the public were able to make submissions to it, as were stakeholders, and the report was made public and published on the Department of Finance website. The terms of reference for that review...

Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We are already investing in our universities. Project Ireland 2040, the plan published by the Government earlier in the year, includes the plan for increasing capital investment in our universities and institutes of technology for the next decade. Has the Deputy seen what is happening at the DIT campus at Grangegorman? That is public capital investment. Has he seen the decision recently...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget Measures (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not know what the Deputy's response would be if I was to introduce a budget that had no tax changes at all for any worker in the State. I am, however, certain of the reaction of many other Deputies. They would condemn me for introducing, at a time of economic stability in the country, the first budget that did nothing at all in the context of workers' take-home pay. Deputy Joan...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget Measures (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with each of the points made by the Deputy. She referred to the impact of, for example, tax changes on citizens who are on very low levels of income. What she did not acknowledge, however, is that - in all cases - if a person is on a low level of income, he or she is already paying a very low rate of income tax.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget Measures (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: If we make any change in this regard, it would mean that the effects will be gradual, as I have already outlined, and if we were to make any bigger changes, we would then face the scenario where this group would not be paying any tax. We have already been down the path of seeing how quickly our tax base can narrow. Figures were published by the Revenue Commissioners earlier this month which...

Other Questions: EU Budget Contribution (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The European Commission’s proposal for the MFF for the period 2021 to 2027 was published on 2 May 2018. I welcome the publication of the proposal, which marks the start of an important debate on the future of the EU budget. The proposals come at a time of great change and adjustment for the EU with new priorities and the departure of UK from the EU. With Ireland’s growing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the paper to which the Deputy refers. My officials and I have been considering it. First, I reject any assertion that Ireland is a tax haven. The report to which the Deputy refers does not provide a definition of "tax haven" and appears to assert that Ireland and many others countries are tax havens without providing any rationale for the assertion. In the report, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The explanation for that is the fact that we are either the first or second most globalised country and that the workers to whom the Deputy refers in those companies are part of global supply chains. As the Deputy pointed out, we have a high share of intellectual property investment in our country. One of the reasons for that is the focus we have had on ensuring that companies make...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not comment on the tax affairs of any particular company, nor will I do so now. I did not say, although I could have made the case, that companies locate here due to the quality and number of our workers. While I could credibly have made that argument, all I asked the Deputy to acknowledge was the fact that the investment strategies of which he is so critical have led to the employment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget Measures (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The way in which questions are assigned is not a matter for me, it is a matter for the Office of the Ceann Comhairle. During my time on questions, which comes around every second week in the House, I answer as many questions as are put to me, including supplementary questions. To answer the question the Ceann Comhairle's office allowed to be tabled, sound public finances are essential to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland’s economic recovery has been underpinned by a significant improvement in competitiveness. The latest figures from the Central Bank show that Ireland’s harmonised competitiveness indicator, a widely used measure of competitiveness in Europe, has improved by approximately 19% between its peak in 2008 and February 2018. The restoration of Irish competitiveness since 2008...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am struck that the focus of analysis and debate has evolved over the past 18 months. Deputies Michael McGrath, Paul Murphy and Pearse Doherty were then arguing that the level of capital investment in our economy was far too low. Deputy Doherty would still argue that it needs to be higher and we need to borrow more to do it. This year we have increased capital investment by €800...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Those same businesses in different parts of our economy were previously calling for the need for further capital investment. That capital investment is under way. We have to take great care in dealing with the issue to which the Deputy refers. I am conscious of the fact that the last time our economy was at this point, we saw large degrees of underemployment or unemployment in other parts...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (11 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy said, the focus of the task force of the Irish and British Governments at the moment is to try to come up with a framework within which trade can continue in the future. In order to protect ourselves from an additional risk of a disorderly Brexit, we are doing three things. The first is to have our national finances in as strong a position as possible in the event of a further...