Written Answers Nos. 54-62
55. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 201 of 6 March 2013 if permission was sought for US military personnel to wear uniform outside the transit area of Shannon Airport on 10 February 2013; and, if so, if this was granted. [19383/13]
View answerIn accordance with the provision of Section 317 of the Defence Act, 1954, express permission has been granted to the US authorities for their military personnel to wear military uniform in the transit areas of Irish airports. Enquiries made by the Department have not identified an instance of the wearing of uniform by US military personnel outside the transit area of Shannon Airport on 10 February 2013. However, should the Deputy be in a position to provide further information, my Department will be happy to look further into the matter.
56. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if any of his Department’s 2012 capital expenditure allocation was used for current expenditure purposes last year, the amount used for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19216/13]
View answerNone of my Department’s capital expenditure allocation was used for current expenditure in 2012.
57. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide the month by month profile for his Department's 2013 capital expendiuture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19232/13]
View answerMy Department does not operate any capital investment programmes but has a small administrative capital allocation. This is mostly used to support investment in ongoing renewal of the Department’s ICT infrastructure to leverage maximum operating cost-effectiveness with reducing staff resources; necessary replacement of equipment and the development of new software applications for the enhancement of passport and consular services to citizens; and essential maintenance and refurbishment of diplomatic premises abroad. The table below presents the profiled capital expenditure 2013 for both Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Co-operation).
|
Jan €000 |
Feb €000 |
Mar €000 |
April €000 |
May €000 |
June €000 |
July €000 |
Aug €000 |
Sept €000 |
Oct €000 |
Nov €000 |
Dec €000 |
Total €000 |
|
|
V28 - FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE |
62 |
62 |
62 |
305 |
315 |
328 |
315 |
305 |
315 |
1423 |
1441 |
1162 |
6095 |
|
V27 - INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION |
0 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
10 |
10 |
30 |
20 |
30 |
10 |
95 |
0 |
255 |
|
62 |
62 |
62 |
355 |
325 |
338 |
345 |
325 |
345 |
1433 |
1536 |
1162 |
6350 |
58. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 56 of 6 March 2013 if he will confirm that the 608 foreign military aircraft that landed at Shannon Airport in 2012 were all unarmed, carrying no arms, ammunition or explosives; if he will also confirm that they did not engage in intelligence gathering, and that the flights in question did not form any part of military exercises or operations; and if this was not the case, if he will clarify the basis upon which the aircraft were permitted to land. [19384/13]
View answerAs outlined in the response to the Parliamentary Question referred to by the Deputy, the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952 gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland. Permission for foreign military aircraft to land at Irish airports is subject to assurances that the conditions mentioned by the Deputy, namely that the aircraft are unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives, do not engage in intelligence gathering, and that the flights in question do not form any part of military exercises or operations, are fully met. I have no evidence to suggest that these conditions were not met in relation to any of the 608 foreign military aircraft which landed in Shannon Airport in 2012.
59. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the statistics available to his Department on the numbers of emigrants from Ireland on a yearly basis in the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19450/13]
View answerThe figures requested by the Deputy in respect of immigration to Britain, America, Canada and Australia from 2003 to 2012 are set out below. These statistics are published by the CSO and can be found on their website. The Deputy should note that the prior to 2007, specific figures for Australia and Canada are not available with both countries included in the “Other Countries” category. For the purposes of these figures, “Other Countries” refers to all countries except, the UK, US and our 26 EU partners.
From 2007, figures for Australia and Oceania are available but Canada remains included in the “Other Countries” category which refers to all countries except,
the UK, US, Australia and Oceania and our 26 EU partners.
Estimated Emigration (Thousand) by Year and Country of Destination, 2003-2006
|
Y/E April |
United Kingdom |
United States |
Other countries |
|
2003 |
8.6 |
2.8 |
11.4 |
|
2004 |
7.1 |
3.9 |
10.5 |
|
2005 |
7.9 |
3.3 |
12.7 |
|
2006 |
8.8 |
3.3 |
15.8 |
Estimated Emigration (Thousand) by Year and Country of Destination, 2007-2012*
|
Y/E April |
United Kingdom |
United States |
Australia & Oceania |
Other countries |
|
2007 |
11.1 |
3.1 |
13.1 |
7.7 |
|
2008 |
7.6 |
2.4 |
12 |
9.3 |
|
2009 |
13.2 |
4.1 |
13.3 |
8.9 |
|
2010 |
15.3 |
2.9 |
11.7 |
12.7 |
|
2011 |
20 |
4.7 |
15.4 |
16.4 |
|
2012 |
19 |
8.6 |
19.7 |
15.8 |
*Figures for 2012 are preliminary.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Emigrant Support Programme (ESP), provides funding to non-profit organisations and projects to support Irish communities overseas and to facilitate the development of more strategic links between Ireland and the global Irish. Between 2004 and 2012, over €104 million has been provided under the Programme.
Details of all grant recipients since 2006 can be found on my Department’s website athttp://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=298. The emphasis of the Emigrant Support Programme is on supporting culturally sensitive, front-line welfare services, targeted at the most vulnerable members of our overseas communities, particularly in Britain and the United States. These services have made a substantive difference to the lives of these communities overseas through reducing homelessness, tackling social isolation, and enabling Irish emigrants to access their local statutory entitlements.
In addition, the ESP has facilitated Government support for a range of community and heritage projects, strategic capital projects and other initiatives aimed at creating practical results-orientated links between Ireland and the global Irish, including those that emerged from the Global Irish Economic Forums.
I am pleased that, despite the difficult financial situation we face, the Government has maintained the 2013 funding for the ESP at €11.59 million, the same level as 2012. The focus in 2013 will be on key front-line welfare and advisory services and on projects aimed at supporting new arrivals. The 2013 grant round closed on 20 February. Applications for 360 projects from 16 countries are currently under review. I expect to be in a position to make announcements in the coming weeks.
60. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the total costs incurred to date and the total estimated costs that will be incurred in establishing extra facilities to handle queries from members of the public on the new local property tax; if he will provide full details of the contract awarded to a private contractor to handle the volume of calls; if any additional staff have been taken on by the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the administration of the local property tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19169/13]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the introduction of the Local Property Tax (LPT), which amounts to the largest extension of the self-assessment system in the history of the State, represents a significant administrative challenge for Revenue. As a new service that will have exceptional temporary pressures at particular stages of its initial implementation it is difficult to predict the level of contact that will arise during its introduction and, consequently, the resource required to handle queries from members of the public. The Expenditure Report for 2013, which was published in December last, makes a provision of €25.9m in 2013 for the implementation of LPT. The total cost of LPT to the end of March 2013 is approximately €6.6m.
Revenue considered a number of options for the provision of a phone call service to handle queries from members of the public. Revenue decided to use a mix of existing staff, staff from the redeployment resource panel, temporary Clerical Officers (TCOs) and external resources to deal with Local Property Tax. At the end of March 2013, Revenue had a total of 155 full-time equivalent staff assigned to LPT, comprising 125 permanent and 30 TCOs. The permanent staff resource was filled through the internal redeployment of existing staff and the recruitment of a total of 29 staff from the Public Service Resource panel. Revenue is currently in the process of recruiting an additional 25 TCOs to support the introduction of LPT.
Following an open competitive tendering process, the contract for call services was awarded on the basis that the service provider would
1. Deliver information and assistance to taxpayers having difficulty understanding LPT and completing their returns and making payments.
2. Assist taxpayers to navigate a new online system for filing returns and payments for LPT.
3. Escalate calls to a Revenue call service where taxpayer specific information is required to resolve the call.
4. Make outbound calls to taxpayers with information on their LPT queries where requested by Revenue to do so.
5. Provide telephony infrastructure and supports to allow direct transfer to Revenue.
6. Support services and resources including account management and quality control.
The service is provided on a 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday basis. The service provider has the ability to scale operations up or down in response to call volumes. The service must meet Revenue customer service standards and the industry ISO standards and Revenue has provided training and training material to ensure that the standards are achieved. An Irish language service is provided. The necessary confidentiality and security procedures have been implemented as agreed.
The service commenced on 7 March 2013 and call volumes of 108,100 were handled up to 16 April 2013. Regular operational management, reporting and review meetings were provided for in the contract. Reporting arrangements and quality monitoring arrangements were agreed and are being delivered. The nature of the contract is that the cost will depend on the volume of calls handled. In accordance with the relevant Government decision, the Revenue Commissioners publishes quarterly lists of payments over €20,000 and payments made under this contract will be included in future lists. Revenue has advised that a total €67,000 was spent on external service delivery of call centre services in Q1 2013.
The external service delivery of peak call handling in respect of the LPT provides a flexible, scalable response to an unpredictable demand. It also provides assurance that the introduction of LPT will not adversely affect Revenue’s capacity to deliver for the Exchequer in relation to their overall priority of maintaining and improving levels of compliance across the range of taxes and duties.
61. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Finance the amount of tax assessment form returns for the local property tax on a county basis. [19189/13]
View answerI am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant deadlines for filing LPT Returns are 7 May for paper filers and 28 May for electronic filers. At the launch of the Commissioners Annual Report this morning, they announced that as of 23 April, 218,903 LPT Returns had been filed. Of these, 133,716 were filed electronically and 85,187 were paper Returns. The Commissioners have confirmed that it is not possible at this time to provide a breakdown of the number of LPT Returns filed on a regional or county basis pending the completion of the bulk processing of the Returns.
62. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Finance the reason a person (details supplied) in County Louth has high pension related deductions taken from their salary at a very early stage during the year; the reason it is not possible to treat one of their incomes separately from their other income for the purposes of PRD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19195/13]
View answerI regret that it was not possible, in the time available, to provide an answer to this question. A response is currently being prepared and this will be forwarded shortly, directly to the Deputy.
63. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare is due a tax rebate for 2010 and 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19197/13]
View answerI have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that PAYE Balancing Statement (P21) for 2010 and 2011 issued to the person concerned on 26 March 2013. Based on these statements underpayments of income tax arise in the amount of €99.64 for 2010 and €1.20 for 2011. According to Revenue records no income levy was deducted for 2010. Accordingly no refund is due. With regard to USC, for 2011, all individuals are liable to the USC where gross income exceeds the threshold of €4,004 per annum. The rate of the charge on the first €10,036 is 2%. Full medical card holders are not exempt from USC but the maximum rate of USC on PAYE income for holders of full medical cards is 4%, i.e. the 7% rate does not apply to income over €16,016. According to Revenue records the correct USC was paid by the person concerned for 2011.
64. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Finance if any of his Department’s 2012 capital expenditure allocation was used for current expenditure purposes last year, the amount used for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19215/13]
View answer65. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide the month by month profile for his Department's 2013 capital expendiuture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19231/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 65 together.
The capital allocation for my Department for 2012 was €0.150m. None of this budget was used for current expenditure. The capital allocation for my Department for 2013 is €0.150m. There is no immediate demand on this allocation and therefore it is profiled for spend in the final quarter of this year.
66. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding a tax refund in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19318/13]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the taxpayer has been issued with a form P50 to enable him to claim any Universal Social Charge that may have been over deducted. From Revenue records, it does not appear that the taxpayer is due any tax refund, but he may of course contact the Region at 1890 22 24 25 if he has reason to believe otherwise.
67. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider classifying personal alarms for the elderly as a medical device for the purposes of VAT and applying zero VAT rating to these products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19334/13]
View answerThe VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply. While the EU VAT Directive and Irish VAT law provide for the possibility of applying a reduced of VAT to the supply of certain medical equipment this possibility does not extend to the supply of personal alarms. Nor is there any provision in VAT law that would make it possible to apply an exemption or the zero rate to the supply of such products. In the circumstances, the supply of personal alarms is liable to VAT at the standard rate, currently 23%. The supply of parts and accessories is also liable to VAT at the standard rate.
I would point out that Value-Added Tax (Refund of Tax) (No. 15) Order 1981 enables VAT paid on qualifying goods to be refunded where the goods are purchased for the exclusive use of disabled persons suffering a specified degree of disablement. The Order applies to goods which are aids or appliances, including parts and accessories, which might reasonably be treated as constructed or adapted having regard to the particular disablement of the person. A personal alarm for a disabled person may qualify for relief under the Order if it may be considered an aid or appliance constructed or adapted for use by a disabled person having regard to the particular disablement of that person. A Claim Form VAT 61A is available on the Revenue website (www.revenue.ie).
In addition, the Deputy may be aware of the Seniors Alert Scheme operated by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, which provides grant support for the supply of equipment to enable older people without sufficient means to continue to live securely in their homes. The scheme replaced the Scheme of Community Support for Older People in May 2010. The grant assistance is made available through community and voluntary groups registered with the Department. Grant support is available towards the cost of purchasing and installing monitored personal alarms, as well as additional or replacement pendants.
Persons wishing to apply for the grant support should contact the group registered to operate the scheme in their area. A list of these groups is available from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
68. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 260 of 16 April 2013, if he will clarify the apparent inconsistency in policy between the National Asset Management Agency providing detailed information in a press release on its development of the Millmount project in Dundonald, County Down, but declines to provide information on its plans with respect to the 1916 National Monument site at 14-17 Moore Street, Dublin. [19348/13]
View answerI am advised by NAMA that its role is that of a secured lender and that properties continue to be managed by debtors or, in the case of enforcement, by the appointed receivers/administrators. NAMA does, however, take a close interest in the efficient management and sale of properties with a view to maximising loan repayment for the ultimate benefit of the taxpayer.
As stated in the answer to PQ No. 260 of 16th April 2013, in the case of property under the control of its debtors, NAMA is precluded, under Section 202 of the NAMA Act 2009, from disclosing confidential information. Confidential information is specifically defined to include information relating to debtors and their properties. Furthermore, Section 99 of the Act provides that, on acquisition of a loan, NAMA takes over the obligations of the participating institution under the loan, one of which is the contractual duty of confidentiality which the debtor enjoyed while still a customer of the participating institution. Information about individual debtors is also protected against disclosure by the Data Protection Acts with which NAMA must comply as a data controller.
Similar restrictions do not apply to properties under the control of receivers or other insolvency practitioners appointed by NAMA. Such properties are listed on the Agency’s website, www.nama.ie. Any decision in relation to the publication of information pertaining to an enforced property is taken in consultation with the appointed insolvency practitioner. I am advised by NAMA that the decision to provide funding to build a new 95-unit housing development in Dundonald, close to Belfast, was reached following a detailed cost-benefit evaluation which established that this was likely to produce the best return for the taxpayer from this site.
69. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 280 of 16 April 2013, if he will identify the independent advisors to Allied Irish bank and the AIB pension fund in the transaction whereby €1.2 billion of EBS mortgages were transferred from AIB to the AIB pension fund in August 2012; if the same company acted as independent advisor on both sides of the transaction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19349/13]
View answerI have been informed by AIB that for commercial confidentiality reasons AIB does not publicly disclose the details of contracts with individual external service providers. However, the bank can confirm that for the purpose of asset valuation, separate advisors were used by AIB and the Trustees of the AIB Pension Fund.
70. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 274 of 16 April 2013, if he will confirm the reason legal fees were paid to ICSA Software International, a provider of computer software. [19350/13]
View answerI am advised by NAMA that ICSA Software International provide software which is used by the legal division to managing compliance obligations of the various NAMA's SPV's.
71. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Finance his intentions to exempt (details supplied) from a benefit tax. [19420/13]
View answerIt is a general principle of taxation that, as far as possible, income from all sources should be subject to taxation. In line with this principle, the majority of social welfare payments are reckonable as income for tax purposes. These include long-term payments such as Disablement Benefit, the State Pension, Widows, Invalidity and Blind Pensions, Carers Allowance and the One Parent Family Payment, as well as short term benefits such as Job Seekers Benefit. Treating these payments as income for tax purposes is essentially a matter of equity.
As a result of maternity benefit payments becoming liable to income tax for all claimants, from 1 July 2013, a number of possible tax outcomes could arise:
1. An individual may pay no income tax on their maternity benefit payment as their tax credits will be sufficient to reduce their tax liability to zero.
2. An individual may pay income tax on some or all of their maternity benefit payment solely at the standard rate.
3. An individual may pay income tax at the standard rate on a portion of the maternity benefit and the higher rate on the balance of the maternity benefit payment.
4. An individual may pay income tax on all of their maternity benefit payment at the higher rate.
I am fully aware that some employers do not pay a top up payment to their employees whilst on maternity leave. However, in such circumstances many mothers will not be subject to income tax on their maternity benefit payments as their personal credits will ensure that no tax arises on the social welfare income itself. Of course, the extent, if any, to which taxation actually arises in a given case depends on the level of income that a recipient has in a tax year. Accordingly, the tax liability on maternity benefit payments will ultimately depend on the total income of the individual or couple concerned in the tax year or years concerned.
There are situations currently where an employee continues to be paid by her employer, while on maternity leave and, based on her PRSI contributions, is entitled to Maternity Benefit from the Department of Social Protection. The non-taxation of such benefit currently results in an employee having a greater net take-home pay for the period of maternity benefit, than if she was at work. The rates of Maternity Benefit are earnings-related and are set to reflect post-tax income. It was never intended that individuals would gain financially by being on maternity leave. The introduction of the charge to income tax on maternity benefit payments will ensure that those with identical incomes will be treated the same for income tax purposes.
I would point out though, that maternity benefit payments will remain exempt from Universal Social Charge and PRSI. Given the current budgetary constraints I have no plans to introduce a tax exemption along the lines proposed.
