Written Answers Nos. 65 - 70
65. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to a proposal (details supplied) regarding the pension levy; if he has considered same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53498/12]
View answerOfficials of my Department and of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform continue to engage with third-party investors on how investment deals could be structured to facilitate the provision of funding for new infrastructure projects.
With regard to tax-based incentives for investment in the economy, pension fund investments should be executed at a level of return comparable to that earned by other investors accepting the same level of investment risk. I am conscious that there are aspects of such investments, such as maturity, liquidity and risk appetite, that may be of particular concern to pension funds and engagement is continuing with the sector on these issues.
66. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Finance the costs of consultants hired by the Revenue Commissioners in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and up to the end of October 2012; the name of the consultancy firms hired by Revenue; the Departments to which they were assigned; and the total cost per year of each of these consultancy firms. [53565/12]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the costs of consultants hired by the Revenue Commissioners in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and to the end of October 2012 along with the reason hired and the total cost are set out in the table below.
The need for consultancy varies from time to time depending on business projects and priorities. As can be seen from the table below Revenue’s expenditure on consultancy is now at a significantly reduced level. It has decreased from €422,282 in 2008 down to €32,163 in 2011, which is low especially when viewed against a total administrative expenditure in 2011 of €391.9m. (The expenditure to the end of October 2012 is €32,371).
|
Year |
Count |
Company |
Reason |
Cost |
|
2008 |
1 |
Achilles Procurement |
Legal Service Consultancy |
€5,329 |
|
2 |
Alchemy Films |
Technical Advice on Film Relief |
€11,616 |
|
|
3 |
Arekibo Communications |
Website Development and Design |
€45,024 |
|
|
4 |
Arthur Nowlan |
Valuations |
€4,497 |
|
|
5 |
Ballycotton Marine Services |
Maritime feasibility study/ Inspection of Cutter |
€2,510 |
|
|
6 |
Bennis Design |
Design Production |
€23,821 |
|
|
7 |
Bull Inform. Systems Irl |
IT related |
€6,921 |
|
|
8 |
C. Moore and Associates |
Value for Money and Policy Review of IT External Resources Expenditure in 2006 |
€4,283 |
|
|
9 |
Catalysto Ltd |
IT Design |
€8,609 |
|
|
10 |
Costello Commercial |
Property Valuations |
€78,583 |
|
|
11 |
Cruickshank |
Technical Advice |
€2,370 |
|
|
12 |
Darlington Consulting |
Ergonomic Assessment |
€436 |
|
|
13 |
De Veeres |
Valuations |
€8,658 |
|
|
14 |
Dermot Geraghty |
Technical Advice |
€2,500 |
|
|
15 |
Dr Joseph Kiniry |
R&D Tax Credit |
€9,103 |
|
|
16 |
Geraldine Garland |
Design work |
€24,332 |
|
|
17 |
Gerard O Leary |
Valuation |
€21,589 |
|
|
18 |
Gerry McMahon |
Consultancy on tariff classification |
€1,365 |
|
|
19 |
Hanna Moore Curley |
Technical Advice |
€5,717 |
|
|
20 |
Humphrey A Moynihan |
Technical Advice on R&D Tax Credit |
€2,043 |
|
|
21 |
James Adam |
Valuations |
€4,210 |
|
|
22 |
Mark Attabury |
Technical Advice |
€3,000 |
|
|
23 |
Market Research Bureau Ltd |
Research Project |
€24,845 |
|
|
24 |
McMahon and Williams |
Legal Affidavits |
€830 |
|
|
25 |
Ms Marie Armah Kwantreng |
Typesetting and editing service |
€5,000 |
|
|
26 |
Niamh Brodie |
Valuations |
€25,500 |
|
|
27 |
O Herlihy Access Consult. |
Design |
€450 |
|
|
28 |
Outsource Services Group |
Technical Advice on Procurement |
€4,236 |
|
|
29 |
Performance Partnership |
Strategic Exercise for HR. |
€28,701 |
|
|
30 |
Peter I Mitchell PhD |
Radiation Protection Advisor |
€12,000 |
|
|
31 |
Philip and Clare Perry |
R&D technical evaluation |
€2,250 |
|
|
32 |
Polaris HR Ltd |
HR Consultancy |
€2,763 |
|
|
33 |
Prof J.C. Dainty |
Technical Advice on R&D Tax Credit |
€4,312 |
|
|
34 |
Prof. Tim McGloughlin |
R&D Tax Credit |
€7,966 |
|
|
35 |
Professor Thomas Brazil |
R&D Tax Credit |
€3,000 |
|
|
36 |
Renaissance Servs Ltd |
Business Continuity |
€21,043 |
|
|
37 |
Whyte and Sons Auctioneers |
Valuations |
€1,500 |
|
|
38 |
Miscellaneous |
A number of small HR related payments |
€1,370 |
|
|
Total |
€422,282 |
|||
|
2009 |
1 |
Achilles Procurement Services |
Legal Service Consultancy |
€1,592 |
|
2 |
Ballycotton Marine Services |
Maritime feasibility study/Inspection of cutter |
€2,614 |
|
|
3 |
De Veres |
Valuation of paintings |
€2,430 |
|
|
4 |
FAS |
Excellence through people assessment |
€1,000 |
|
|
5 |
Hanna Moore Curley EU Patent and Trade Mark Attorney |
Technical Patent Advice |
€5,212 |
|
|
6 |
Peter I. Mitchell Phd |
Radiation Consultancy Services |
€11,920 |
|
|
7 |
Polaris (HR) Ltd |
Professional HR Consultancy |
€3,041 |
|
|
8 |
Vector Workplace and Facilities Management |
Energy Review Project |
€1,452 |
|
|
Total |
€29,261 |
|||
|
2010 |
1 |
Achilles Procurement Services |
Procurement and Consultancy in relation to New State Warehouse |
€5,142 |
|
2 |
Doran Cray Architectural Services |
Refurbishment |
€3,525 |
|
|
3 |
DZMG — Archives Consulting Services |
Records management and recommendations |
€8,712 |
|
|
4 |
Elevator Consulting Ltd |
Consultancy / feasibility study |
€871 |
|
|
5 |
Innovative Food Solutions |
Technical advice |
€545 |
|
|
6 |
James Adams |
Valuation advice |
€2,178 |
|
|
7 |
Philip Lee |
Procurement and contract for the provision of security services |
€2,100 |
|
|
8 |
Philip Lee |
Contracts relating to ICT procurement |
€15,447 |
|
|
9 |
Polaris HR Consultants |
Advice — Employment law. |
€21,980 |
|
|
10 |
Professor Sean Doyle |
Consultancy / legislative |
€3,003 |
|
|
11 |
Vector Workplace and Facilities Mgt Ltd. |
Energy Review Project |
€7,278 |
|
|
Total |
€ 70,781 |
|||
|
2011 |
1 |
Baker Ryan Tilly Glennon |
Advice — Employment law |
€6,993 |
|
2 |
Darlington Consulting |
VDU Ergonomic Assessment |
€229 |
|
|
3 |
Doran Cray Architectural Services |
Refurbishment |
€12,857 |
|
|
4 |
Driver Focus |
Advice on development of safe driving for the work place |
€10,690 |
|
|
5 |
Murray McCarter |
Valuation Assistance |
€300 |
|
|
6 |
Riverside Medical Centre |
Medical Report |
€150 |
|
|
7 |
Vector Workplace and Facilities Mgt Ltd. |
Tender evaluation and development |
€944 |
|
|
Total |
€32,163 |
|||
|
2012 |
1 |
Bowe Systec (Ire) Ltd |
Report commissioned on facilities for Print & mail centre |
€7,260 |
|
2 |
Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon |
Advice on Employment Law |
€12,374 |
|
|
3 |
Catalyst Consultants |
Advice on Employment Law |
€4,800 |
|
|
4 |
Achilles Procurement |
Technical Advice on Procurement |
€5,243 |
|
|
5 |
OHSS |
Health & Safety – Air quality control |
€1,919 |
|
|
6 |
Authentic |
Technical Advice on Procurement |
€775 |
|
|
Total |
€32,371 |
67. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance if or when refund of income tax in respect of rent will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53610/12]
View answerI am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the person in question received the rent tax credit for the years 2005 – 2010.
The Revenue Commissioners have now arranged for the issue of a PAYE balancing statement for the year 2011, granting the rent credit. The refund will be credited to the person’s bank account within 10 days. An amended tax credit certificate for the current year will issue shortly. Following receipt of the certificate, the employer will make the refund due for the year 2012 through the person’s salary.
68. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 55 of 7 November 2012, if he will now provide the information requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53634/12]
View answerI have been informed by the covered institutions that there are 9,033 retired employees (or their spouses/dependants) receiving a pension from those institutions.
As the Deputy will be aware these retired employees belong to private pension schemes which are overseen by pension trustees.
To comply with the provisions of the Data Protection legislation it has been necessary to aggregate the information and as a result I am limited to providing the total number of retired employees in receipt of a pension of over €100,000. As the Deputy can see from the table below there are only 167 retired employees currently receiving pensions over €100,000 out of a total pool of 9,033 retired employees across the covered institutions. Less than 2% of the retired employees are in receipt of pensions greater than €100,000.
|
AIB |
BOI |
IBRC |
PTSB |
Total |
|
|
Total number of retired employees in receipt of a pension over €100,000 |
88* |
52 |
16 |
11 |
167 |
|
Total number of retired employees in receipt of a pension |
3,380 |
5,300 |
57 |
296 |
9,033 |
*Includes the pensions of EBS staff.
69. Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Finance his plans to make arrangements to deduct the household charge and forthcoming property tax directly from the salaries of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53642/12]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Government decided that without prejudice to the policy decisions, the Revenue Commissioners will be responsible for collecting the Local Property Tax when it is introduced. The Revenue Commissioners are actively planning for the implementation of the tax to include collection mechanisms from all liable persons.
The details of the administration of Local Property Tax will be announced by me on Budget Day and, will be underpinned by legislation which I will propose to the House.
The Household Charge is a matter for my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Local Government Management Agency. The future of the Household Charge will be decided by Government in due course.
70. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 130 of 8 November 2012, if he will provide the information requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53658/12]
View answerI can now inform the Deputy that I have received the information which he requested and apologise for the delay in procuring this information from the covered institutions. The responses I have received from each institution are set out below:
PTSB
I have been informed by PTSB that it has not made any such contributions in the period while it was in state ownership.
IBRC
Since nationalisation, I have been advised that the former Anglo Irish Bank made one payment of c. €150,000 to an employee pension scheme in March 2009 that could be considered to fall outside of normal employer contributions. This payment was made in connection with litigation.
I have been informed that the Bank, in conjunction with its pension advisors, has uncovered no evidence relating to additional payments having been made by the former INBS to their employee pension schemes during the period in question, that could be deemed to fall outside of normal employer contributions.
AIB
AIB (including EBS) has informed me that during the calendar year 2007 it made contributions to its pension schemes in accordance with agreed actuarial funding plans and as required by regulation. Contributions in excess of these were made to address a combination of unscheduled early retirements including ill health related circumstances and the exercise of contractual early retirement rights and amounted to €11m.
The amounts paid to date are:
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 to date |
|
|
Allied Irish Banks (including EBS) |
€11m |
€3.5m |
€2m |
€4m |
€3m |
€1,101m* |
* The 2012 figure for AIB includes one off exceptional contributions made in 2012, these contributions were made in the form of a transfer of loans to the pension scheme. The gross value of the loans transferred was €1.1bn but the carrying value of these loans prior to transfer was significantly less than this. This transfer has enabled the early retirement program which is required in order to reduce the cost base of the bank by over €200m per year.
BOI
Bank of Ireland has informed me that it has disclosed the additional deficit-reduction contributions paid to its employee pension schemes in its Annual Report. On Page 265 of the 2011 Annual Report in the “Group Pensions Review” section, Bank of Ireland discloses the amounts paid in 2010 and 2011 and the expectation for 2012, as a result of the agreement with staff to reduce benefits payable under the Group Pension review. To date the payments are in line with expectations. These payments are consistent with those disclosed in the 2011 Prospectus under risk factors (page 59).
Prior to 2010 there were a number of smaller contributions made to schemes in deficit, in line with the requirements of the Pensions Regulator in the UK and the Irish Pensions Board, following actuarial valuations of those smaller schemes. The scale of these payments did not warrant separate disclosure in the published accounts.
