Results 281-300 of 1,061,263 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Matt Carthy OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Seán Sherlock OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:David Cullinane)

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: I thank the Ministers for the presentations. So many of the economic indicators are very strong, with full employment, interest rates facing south and strong tax returns. Many of the various bodies such as IFAC, the ESRI and others are pointing towards an attitude of "steady now" and putting aside funds towards a day when the figures are not as strong as they are today. The last budget saw...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: On the-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: In the annex to the summer economic statement, there is a section regarding our well-being performance dealing with the performance of things that really matter within our society. That information is sourced from the CSO well-being information hub. It compares Ireland's performance across 35 well-being indicators and compares our performance to other countries. Very briefly, progress was...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I will kick off there. I thank Deputy Canney. I entirely agree with his point that with so much funding being available through the Apple decision, it is imperative we make a decision regarding how we spend that money wisely. When Ireland experienced a gain such as this before, for example, the money that was made available for us in regional cohesion funding through our membership of the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: No.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Absolutely not. A taxpayer is not accountable to the Deputy or to the Parliament for their tax affairs. They are accountable to the Revenue Commissioners and there is a clear line that we should not cross here. A taxpayer is accountable to the Revenue Commissioners, an independent non-political body, for their tax affairs. They are not accountable to Parliament for it.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a taxpayer and it is an employer. I strongly believe that if we get to a point that a taxpayer believes they are going to be accountable for the conduct of their tax affairs to a Parliament in public as opposed to the Revenue Commissioners, which is independent and private, that is a line and a division of powers we should not break. The short answer to the Deputy's question is that I...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: If the Deputy wants to reduce it to the understandable paradigm of the average person on the street, I think that if the average person on the street had a difficulty or their tax affairs were not in order, they would have a reasonable expectation they would be answering to the Revenue Commissioners about it and not to the Deputy. They would be dealing with it in private with the Revenue...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: -----but the Deputy did ask me a question, which I have answered.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: It is the same Central Bank that is also telling us not to overheat the economy. It is the same Central Bank that is telling us there are not enough workers in the economy to build the projects that we need and warning of capacity constraints. It is the same bank saying all of this. We have to listen to the other part of what it is saying, which is in addition to the part the Deputy is...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Let me finish. That is what we are aiming to do by decisions that we may make in relation to infrastructure. Leaving aside the money that comes from the Apple judgment, the Government is already running surpluses and we have the ability to invest, but the Central Bank warns us in the same voice about not overheating the economy and we have to listen to that as well.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not follow the Deputy’s line of questioning. On the one hand, he asked me if I am listening to the Central Bank and then, when I say that I have to listen to all of what the Central Bank says-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: When I say that I have to listen to all of what the Central Bank has to say, the Deputy finds that a worrying admission. Any construction company that I meet, or any engineering company I go to, tells me that it cannot find the people it needs to do the work that is needed. That is just the reality we are facing as an economy at full employment. What the Government will do, and what we...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: It appears that whatever answer I gave, the Deputy would have predicted a decade of failure. What I believe we can do-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The people will have to make a call on that because a decade is a long time. I believe there is the prospect that if future governments can maintain the momentum that this Government has started, we will make progress on the delivery of more homes in a way that will make a big impact on the needs of our country and society. I am confident that we can do that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: First, I acknowledge that working in our hospitals, particularly hospitals that are very busy, is demanding work and our public servants who do this do great work on our behalf in demanding circumstances. I acknowledge and thank them for the contribution they make in looking after those who are sick in our country. The agreement the Deputy is talking about is the agreement whereby we made...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: It is like any other part of our public service. The pay and numbers strategy is the same approach that we have for any other part of our public service, which is simply that given the availability of the money that you have, how many people do you expect you will be able to hire during the year and how many do you currently have recruited.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: We then require and depend on our public service to stay within those figures. With the amount of additional money that has been made available here, I challenge the Deputy with regard to how he can make the case that this is a negative development.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I will, but just before I do that I want to join the Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers, in what he said about the Deputy's point about children with intellectual disabilities. We are all aware of how difficult this is for families and the challenges they have in accessing services despite our best efforts. We certainly acknowledge the importance of the point the Deputy made. On the...