Results 41-60 of 11,045 for speaker:Damien English

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: It is a policy change.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: I would welcome any initiative to try to encourage a greater spend on research and development. I understand that is the motivation here. We set targets in our various science strategies to reach a higher level of spend on research and development, both public and private, but we have not reached them yet when we compare ourselves with other countries that are where we would like to be. I...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: For the record, in my view, we would not be in the situation we are in as a country, with the employment levels we have, without investment in research and development and innovation. That is driving the activity in all sizes of companies. Without a doubt, there has to be research and development in both a public and private capacity. What we are trying to drive, from my understanding of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: One has to put mechanisms in place to unlock expenditure. That is true of incentives like this too. It is really important.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: They have to spend it to get it. That is the point the Deputy is missing.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: It is common knowledge.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: The figures as regards the gap between larger companies and SMEs that avail of the research and development tax credit have been out there for quite a while. This information was captured in the last two science strategies. Every policy aim has been to try to encourage more of our SMEs to tap into the opportunities presented by research and development. It is driven through local...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: A lot of them are engaging in research and development. Let us be straight now.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: We must have this conversation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: Either we want to encourage research and development or we do not. The Deputy cannot have it both ways.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: That is what we invest in. We are selling Ireland on the basis of talent.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: They are two separate arguments.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2023)

Damien English: The info stages can include analysis of what will happen if we do not do this. The reason we have these credits and incentives is to unlock activity in the first place. Without them it might not happen. I presume there will be some sensitivity analysis about how if we do not do this it might lead to a reduction in the spend, which in my view would not be a good thing.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: The amendments are fine. The thrust of this is to try to free-up board members' time to focus on strategy as well as involve the officers a lot more. That makes total sense to me. The general thrust of this Bill is around trying to strengthen the work of the credit unions, strengthen the roles they have and the services they provide but also making it somewhat more encouraging for new...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: We can have conversations around the development of relationships but the thrust of this legislation as it developed over the past couple of years, and certainly the conversations around it, have been focused on strengthening the relationship between the credit union movement, the Central Bank and the Department. Certainly in the past 12 months, that relationship seems to have developed a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: The purpose of the credit union movement is to avoid unnecessary costs and fees. I imagine the framework would reflect our discussion here and the intention would be to minimise fees. The whole thrust of this Bill is to make it possible for members of a credit union that does not offer proper mortgages or SME lending to easily go down the road to the next one. There are issues around which...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: It would be worthwhile for us as a committee, when we get to the framework stage, to consider that there has been much positive engagement with the credit union representative bodies and sector and they could come in to discuss the detail and framework. I totally agree with Deputy Doherty that we do not want to have legislation in place that does not facilitate or catch all the scenarios,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: That is how I read it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2023)

Damien English: If there are any issues to clarify, we can do it on Report Stage. It would be better if it were the other way round.