Results 19,841-19,860 of 32,726 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Book Sales (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114, 116 and 194 together. As part of their regular engagement with the banks in which the State has a shareholding, officials in my Department discuss a wide range of topics, including loan sales. For example, in the case of Project Glas, the recently announced project announced by PTSB to sell a portfolio of NPLs, officials were first briefed by the bank...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I recently announced a review of the Local Property Tax (LPT) which will look in particular at the impact on LPT liabilities of property price developments. It will include an examination of the outstanding recommendations of the 2015 Thornhill review of the Local Property Tax. It is expected that the review will be completed at the end of August and that the review report will...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department currently forecasts that Ireland's contribution to the EU budget will be €2,650 million in 2018, €2,675 million in 2019 and €2,750 million in 2020. It is worth noting that these forecasts are contingent on a number of variables, including updated GNI forecasts, the size of the overall EU budget for the year and other EU budget operational developments which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Central Bank (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have ongoing contact with my EU counterparts, including at the monthly Ecofin and Eurogroup meetings. In relation to vacancies at the European Central Bank, I was in direct contact with many of my counterparts in support of my nomination of the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Professor Philip Lane, for the position of Vice President of the European Central Bank. During these...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Board (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the NAMA Act 2009, the NAMA Board is to consist of nine members - the NAMA Chairman, the CEO of NAMA (ex-officio), the CEO of the NTMA (ex-officio), and six ordinary members. There are currently seven members on the NAMA Board and there are two vacancies for ordinary members which have arisen as a result of departures from the board in December 2013 and January 2014. A full complement...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Book Sales (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware Non-performing loans (NPL's) remain at an elevated level across the European banking system and addressing this issue is one of the key priorities for the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The reduction of NPL's is also being given high priority at EU level with the Commission announcing their "Action Plan to Tackle Non-Performing Loans in Europe" in July 2017. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am assuming that the Deputy is referring to the recently published proposals from the Commission on taxation of certain digital activities. I am advised that Revenue have been examining the potential impact of the proposed changes proposed by the Commission but which yet have to be discussed by Council. Information provided in Corporation Tax returns does not separate the digital and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Data (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The development of the National Claims Information Database is a complex project as insurers very often record data in different ways and do not necessarily use the same definitions. For this reason, my officials established a data sub-group in 2017, which has been meeting since then to examine the issues regarding its development and to prepare the General Scheme of the legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Agreements (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The OCED Task Force on the Digital Economy Interim Report marks an important step in the ongoing work being undertaken by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS since 2015 and makes a significant contribution towards our understanding of the challenges arising from the digitisation of the economy and how the international tax system should adapt to address any issues arising.  That the OECD...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Application (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: A review of the appropriate treatment for tax purposes of trade union subscriptions and professional body fees was carried out by my Department in 2016 and included in the 2016 report on tax expenditures published on budget day 2016. The review may be found at the following link: () The review concluded that: "... analysis of the scheme using the principles laid down by the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Irish Funds Industry Association developed proposals consistent with IFS2020 and timed to take advantage of the Capital Markets Union agenda to promote the establishment of private equity and venture capital funds vehicles in Ireland. Private Equity are typically constituted as partnerships and such funds are not common in Ireland. The Department of Finance analysed the proposals...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners Resources (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that they currently have three mobile container scanners and a specialist vehicle incorporating x-ray facilities and radiation detection technology for monitoring baggage and smaller items of cargo. All mobile scanners are available for deployment at ports and locations such as warehouses, as required. Revenue monitors and assesses its needs in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Regulation (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In answering the Deputy’s question, it is useful if I start by giving some historic context. During the height of the financial crisis a key focus of the authorities was on stabilising and ultimately reducing mortgage arrears through the implementation of sustainable mortgage solutions that were agreed with borrowers. This led to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) introducing...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Financial Forum (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The third annual European Financial Forum (EFF) was held in Dublin Castle on 31 January 2018. The event, which was hosted by my colleague Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance Michael D’Arcy TD, is now in its third year and is a key deliverable as part of the Government’s International Financial Services 2020 Strategy. Following a review of the 2017 forum...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The CSO’s preliminary estimate for full-year GDP growth in 2017 is 7.8 per cent. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, in 2017 the EU and euro area economies grew by 2.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. This would suggest that Ireland was the fastest growing economy in the EU in 2017. While the 2017 outturn is based on preliminary quarterly data...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Avoidance (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 183 together. The term "so-called vulture funds”, while not being consistently defined, is often used in public discourse to refer to variety of different types of investors from banks to private equity to small groups of individual investors.  In recent times, a common feature of these investors is that they...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Services (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I can advise the Deputy that common bond restrictions limit the potential for credit unions to lend to housing bodies and local authorities, either directly or on a syndicated basis. As previously set out in my reply to parliamentary question No. 55 for written answer on 22nd February 2018, the Credit Union and Co-Operation with Overseas Regulators Act 2012 introduced changes to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Implementation (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Climate change is a great global challenge and imposing carbon taxation on pollutant fossil fuels, as part of a broader strategy involving both taxation and non-taxation measures, incentivises the uptake of cleaner and more sustainable fuel sources. The OECD report, Taxing Energy Use 2018, brings together statistical data from 42 OECD and G20 countries and allows...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vacant Properties Data (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been advised by the Central Bank of Ireland that while it collects data on homes voluntarily surrendered to mortgage lenders, they do not distinguish between vacant or occupied. The latest Mortgage Arrears and Repossession Statisticspublished by the Central Bank, indicate that there were 1,717 properties in mortgage lenders possession at the beginning of the fourth quarter of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (27 Mar 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: During the preparations for Finance Bill 2017 it came to light that the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII) was potentially not compliant with state aid rules (specifically Art. 21(3) of the General Block Exemption Regulations) and that it should be amended as a matter of urgency to bring it within state aid rules.  The relevant...