Ciara Conway
Question:177. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance with regard to the 0.6% levy on private pensions, the amount that has been collected to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50993/12]
View answerTuesday, 20 November 2012
Questions (177, 178, 179)
Ciara Conway
Question:178. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance regarding the 0.6% levy on private pensions, the amount of moneys collected and the amount that has been spent of the creation of jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50994/12]
View answerCiara Conway
Question:179. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Finance with regard to the 0.6% levy on private pensions, if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the amount of money earmarked for job creation that was spent in Waterford city and county; the number of jobs created as a result of this spending in Waterford city and county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50995/12]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 to 179, inclusive, together.
The Government introduced a temporary levy on funded pension schemes and personal pension plans in order to fund the measures introduced in last year’s Jobs Initiative.
The measures introduced as part of the Jobs Initiative include a new 9% VAT rate on certain activities, the halving of the lower rate of PRSI and small amounts of additional current and capital expenditure.
Receipts from the pension levy amounted to €463 million in 2011. As of the end-October, total receipts from the pension levy this year amount to €490 million. This is broadly in line with the amounts anticipated to be collected over the period.
As regards the resources available for job creation these are detailed in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2012 which was published earlier this year. Further details on specific measures can be provided by the relevant Ministers.
Employment data are presented in net terms and information on gross flows into and out of employment is not available, making it difficult to assess the number of jobs created by any policy initiative. For these reasons, it is not possible to provide figures on the number of jobs created by the Jobs Initiative in Waterford City and County.
Notwithstanding that quantifying the impact is difficult, I am confident that the measures introduced by the Government in May last year, such as reducing the rate of VAT in the high value added tourism sector, are playing an important role in both creating and sustaining employment. Encouragingly, there are signs of stabilisation in labour market conditions as evidenced by the standardised unemployment rate estimated from the live register.
Finally, I want to reiterate that addressing the difficulties in the labour market remains the Government’s biggest challenge and, accordingly, the Government is giving its highest priority to job protection and job creation.