Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

209. To ask the Minister for Finance the groups, persons or political representatives he has met in the context of planning budget 2017 and the finance Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30925/16]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

210. To ask the Minister for Finance the groups, persons or political representatives officials from his Department have met in the context of planning budget 2017 and the finance Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30926/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 209 and 210 together.

The Deputy will appreciate that preparation for Budget 2017 and the Finance Bill is a complex matter and it would be impractical to provide a definitive list of every single such meeting that may have taken place.

However, I can advise him that in advance of Budget 2017, I met, along with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and as I usually do, a number of representative organisations. These were the CIF, IBEC, ICMSA, ICTU, IFA and the Community and Voluntary Pillar. The Pillar, as the Deputy will be aware, comprises seventeen separate organisations. In addition, I met with other organisations including the American Chamber of Commerce, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, Newsmedia and the Vintners' Federation of Ireland and with a range of public representatives including Deputies Michael McGrath and Stephen Donnelly. As you will be aware Deputy, officials also engaged with you in the context of the Finance Bill and I attended a number of Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meetings, where the Budget was discussed.

I also met with senior Revenue officials.

I am advised that among the many groups met by my officials relating to Budget 2017 and the Finance Bill were:

- AirBnB

- Alcohol Action Ireland

- DIGI

- IBEC

- Irish Cancer Society 

- ICOS

- Irish Stock Exchange

- IFA

- Irish Heart Foundation

- ITMAC

- Linked Finance

- NOFFLA

- SIMI

- Social Justice Ireland.

My officials also met with their colleagues in other Government Departments and agencies. These would have included meetings with Revenue, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland.

Specifically in relation to consultations on amendments to section 110 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and funds legislation, officials from my Department have met with a number of relevant stakeholders, including representatives from the Irish Debts and Securities Association, the Irish Funds Industry Association and from companies involved in these sectors.

The Deputy should be aware that my officials and I meet with a range of organisations and individuals on a regular basis and it is often the case that the issue of an upcoming Budget or Finance Bill arises in the course of such discussions.

I would note also that in the run-up to Budget 2016 and the Finance Bill I have received to date more than 400 submissions from a wide variety of groups, representative organisations and individuals. All such submissions received are recorded and distributed as appropriate, both in my Department and in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, so that their content may be considered by the relevant officials in the context of Budget and Finance Bill preparation.