Results 321-340 of 1,057,793 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:Simon Coveney OR speaker:Pearse Doherty OR speaker:Cathal Crowe OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Jack Chambers OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh) in 'Committee meetings'
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister knows that over half of workers do not pay tax at the higher rate which means that the average worker does not benefit from the change that the Government is planning. The Minister told the media that average workers will benefit to the tune of €1,000. Can he tell this committee, to which he is accountable, albeit that the media has an important job to do as well,...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: I will be able to set out on budget day the tax decisions that we take, the impact of those on workers in our economy and the cost-of-living-----
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: With respect, the Minister set it out to the media a couple of days ago. Why can he not give the same commitment to the budgetary oversight committee, to which he is accountable? Is it because those who earn €40,000 will not benefit to the tune of €1,000, in the same way that they did not benefit last year and the Minister does not want to puncture the spin of the Government...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: If one takes the combined income tax and cost-of-living package that we introduced last year and what I intend to progress this year, it will be highly progressive. We want to make sure average workers benefit-----
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: That is not the question I asked. I did not ask whether it was progressive or not. I asked if the Minister can give a commitment to average workers on €40,000. Will they get €1,000? He was happy to spin that at his party's think-in but he is unable, under questioning, to say the same thing here because he did not do it last year and is unlikely to do it this year. Is that...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: We brought in a highly progressive tax package last year which benefitted workers, particularly when one combines the income tax changes with the cost-of-living payments.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister is unwilling to give the commitment that he gave to the media because he did not do it last year and is unlikely to do it this year. Let me ask the Minister another question-----
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: When one takes the combined total of income tax deductions and cost-of-living payments last year, average workers benefitted by in or around that.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: No they did not. The average worker on €40,000 did not. That is a mistruth that the Minister is presenting to this committee and he knows it. The Minister put out a press release saying that he is going to increase the standard fund threshold to €2.8 million. We are talking here about gold-plated pensions. At this point, someone can retire on €72,000 or...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: I can send the committee detailed figures on the numbers who have paid and what it has taken to date. I am happy to provide that information. What we have done here is taken the recommendation of €2.8 million and we are phasing that in from 2026 onwards, with an increase of €200,000, which addresses wage growth in that interim period. It also addresses a specific concern that...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: How much will it cost?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: For 2025 it will not cost anything.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister put out a press release saying that he is increasing the standard fund threshold to €2.8 million. I want to know how much that policy costs.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: I will provide the committee with that information.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: Does the Minister know how much the policy costs?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: I know what the policy costs if we were to bring it to €2.8 million immediately.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: How much does that cost?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: I am happy to provide the committee with that information. By phasing this in over a number of years, it is a reduced cost vis-à-vis what the de Buitléir report recommended. I am happy to provide that information to the committee.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Pearse Doherty: The number of people who actually had a pension pot above €2 million in the last year for which data is available from Revenue is just over 230. These are gold-plated pensions that are costing hundreds of millions of euro. Ordinary taxpayers, people who are working in Tesco at the minute, are paying taxes to subsidise these pensions. The Minister not only wants to see these...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (18 Sep 2024)
Jack Chambers: The Deputy will recall that the standard fund threshold was in excess of €5 million in previous years-----