Written Answers Nos. 35 - 46
35. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will report on the recent joint trade mission carried out in Singapore by his Department and Enterprise Ireland and counterparts from the United Kingdom; and if similar missions will take place elsewhere this year or in the coming years. [12014/14]
View answer40. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a full account of the first joint trade mission by Ireland and Britain to the Singapore Air Show; his plans for further joint trade missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7990/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 40 together.
As part of a wider trade and investment mission to Singapore and Malaysia, I recently led the first-ever joint trade mission of Irish, Northern Ireland and British companies, together with fellow Ministers Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment and Stephen Hammond, UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport. Eleven Irish companies, together with Northern Ireland and British counterparts participated at the Singapore Air Show - Asia's largest aviation fair and exhibition - featuring 250 exhibitors from 70 countries around the world. The ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) region alone, is expected to account for one-third of global air traffic by 2032. A joint trade stand allowed the Irish and British participants to demonstrate their individual and joint capabilities.
The joint trade mission arises from a commitment by the Taoiseach and Prime Minister David Cameron at their annual Summit last March. Closer economic and trading ties between Ireland and Britain, including strengthening British and Irish firms' abilities to win new business in third countries, forms part of a wider agenda aimed at strengthening British-Irish relations over the next ten years, as agreed at a Leaders' Summit in March 2012. The Irish companies participating in the joint mission supply goods and services in a variety of sub-sectors in the aviation industry such as training, recruitment, plastic components, precision tooling, crew management, transport logistics and airport management.
As well as participating directly in the air show, the companies attended a round- table discussion where aviation experts in the region gave an overview of developments and opportunities, and a site visit to a large aircraft overhaul and maintenance operator.
The ASEAN region with a population of 600 million people, is a key growth area with enormous potential for Irish companies to grow exports and jobs across a variety of sectors, including aviation. A number of Irish companies have already established a foothold and through this trade mission and with the existing Irish presence there it is expected that Ireland can significantly grow Irish exports to the region.
I also used the opportunity to undertake a number of other engagements in Singapore and Malaysia including meetings with Ministers and Government officials, meetings with Irish diaspora organisations, individual Irish companies and business people in the region and a number of media engagements. A particular focus in Malaysia was on opportunities in the education sector. I met the Malaysian Minister for Education and visited two third-level institutions to promote Ireland as a location for education and learning.
In the course of the wider trade mission, contracts to the value of €25 million were signed by Irish companies. The question of future such trade missions, or other means of enhancing British-Irish trade relations will be kept under review by both parties.
36. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans for future joint trade missions with Ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12165/14]
View answerFollowing on from the recent first-ever joint trade mission to Singapore which I led along with my UK and NI Ministerial colleagues, Enterprise Ireland and its UK and NI equivalent development agencies are engaged in an evaluation of the mission and the benefits to its client companies. This will assist in informing how we might take future efforts forward.
38. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether the national minimum wage should be increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12174/14]
View answerThe current Programme for Government contained a commitment to reverse the €1 per hour reduction in the National Minimum Wage introduced by the previous Government on 1 February 2011. The increase was provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 and effected by the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 (Section 11) (No. 2) Order 2011 from 1 July 2011. The restoration of the National Minimum Wage to €8.65 per hour represented a significant commitment by the Government to protect the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers. There are no plans for further adjustments to the National Minimum Wage.
39. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in terms of the stated aim of supporting competitive regions, as identified in the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs, the groups, organisations, agencies or otherwise, that will be involved in the development of a framework for a regional enterprise strategy; if the group tasked with developing such a strategy will hold regional meetings; and if he will provide an indicative timescale for the creation of the strategy. [12115/14]
View answerThe aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to support enterprises to create employment throughout the whole of the country and in all regions. Regions that support strong and dynamic enterprises are crucial to Ireland’s return to overall economic growth. The 2014 Action Plan for Jobs, which was published at the end of February, includes a commitment to develop a framework for a Regional Enterprise Strategy to better integrate the efforts of enterprise agencies and other regional stakeholders in supporting enterprises, based on the sustainable competitive advantage of the region.
My intention is that the framework will be developed on a pilot basis initially, focusing on the Midlands region, and involving the agencies under the remit of my own Department – Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the County and City Enterprise Boards (soon to become Local Enterprise Offices). The objective is to enhance synergies between the agencies and their client companies and build on the competitive strengths of the region to maximise the potential for job creation. The role which other public bodies in the region can play in working towards this objective will also be examined as the project develops.
My Department has commenced work on the development of a framework for a Regional Enterprise Strategy through a Working Group that includes representatives from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Forfás and my Department. The Group is currently identifying the strengths, opportunities and strategic resources of the Midlands region and this work will feed in to the framework which I expect to be finalised in Quarter 2 of this year. The objective is that this framework will serve as a model for other regions of the country.
It is not envisaged, at this stage, that public meetings will be held at regional level on the framework, given that the focus of the exercise is on improving inter-agency co-ordination. However, I separately hold regular regional meetings with employers as part of my engagement with the enterprise sector on the Action Plan for Jobs.
41. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason a person (details supplied) in County Donegal has not received a refund of the payment made in relation to an application for a passport which was denied; the reason for the delay; when the refund will be paid to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12719/14]
View answerIt is the policy of the Passport Service to refund fees that exceed the statutory amount or in situations where either the applicant has cancelled their application or does not qualify for a passport under the Passports Act, 2008. In this particular case, the applicant does not qualify for a passport on the grounds that he is not an Irish citizen. Accordingly, he is entitled to a refund of the paid passport fee of €80. However, as part of a wider Civil Service reform programme, the Office of the Paymaster General advised Government Departments to move from an existing manual payments system, involving the use of payable orders/cheques, to an electronic and direct means of transferring of funds to an applicant’s bank account.
The Department has therefore been working on developing a new system to issue refunds by electronic funds transfer (EFT) as opposed to the previous method of issuing by payable order. System changes needed to link the EFT requirements between the Automated Passport System, which generates the refunds and the Department’s Financial Management System, which issues the payments, are currently being tested. The new system will be in place in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the Passport Service is operating an interim manual cheque payment for certain urgent refunds. A cheque in respect of the refund of passport fees for the person in question has been issued.
42. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Finance if there is any provision to refund an overpayment of household property tax where a person who, when completing the household property tax form, ticked the incorrect band and hence is registered to pay an amount that does not reflect the actual value of the property and if there is provision to receive a refund; the provision there is to change the band to the one that is properly applicable to the property concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12650/14]
View answerThe Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) sets out how a residential property is to be valued for Local Property Tax (LPT) purposes. LPT is a self-assessed tax so it is a matter for the property owner to calculate the tax due based on his or her assessment of the market value of the property as at 1 May 2013. When completing their LPT Return last year, it was expected that property owners would make their best endeavours to self-assess the value of their property at 1 May 2013 and the Revenue Commissioners provided guidance, including an online valuation guidance tool, to assist property owners in making their self-assessment.
The procedure to be followed by those property owners who have overvalued their property, and as a consequence, have overpaid their LPT has been the subject of replies by me to a number of specific Parliamentary Questions, most recently Question No. 154 (1611/14) on 15 January 2014. In addition, the matter has been covered on the website of the Revenue Commissioners for some time.
The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that if a property owner has genuinely overpaid the tax through an error or mistake concerning the property's value as at 1 May 2013, he/she should write to the Revenue Commissioners, Local Property Tax Branch, PO Box 1, Limerick. The online self-correction facility cannot be used to self-correct a valuation downwards. When submitting the claim to Revenue, the property owner should clearly explain how the error or mistake occurred, confirm the revised valuation band/valuation for the property and include relevant documentation in support of the claim. Any of the following types of supporting documentation can be submitted to Revenue:
- A copy of a professional valuation as at 1 May 2013 (if one is available).
- Photographs of the property clearly indicating the features that influence a lower valuation.
- Documented information on property sales for comparable properties in the local area around 1 May 2013 e.g. from the Residential Property Price Register www.propertypriceregister.ie
- Documented information on any house prices survey in the area reflecting values around 1 May 2013.
- Details of advertised house prices for comparable properties in the area around 1 May 2013 e.g. from www.daft.ie or www.myhomes.ie.
If Revenue are satisfied that the person did genuinely overpay their LPT, it will be possible to offset some or all of the overpayment to the owner's 2014 LPT liability, if it is not already paid, or to make a refund of the overpayment, provided the owner's tax affairs are up to date.
43. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the extent to which the availability of credit and debt management continues to be an issue for small and medium-sized enterprises; the extent to which his Department continues to monitor such requirements; his proposals for resolution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12690/14]
View answerThe Government recognises that SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy and play a vital role in the continuing recovery of employment growth in our country. Government policy since 2011 has focused on ensuring that all viable SMEs have access to an appropriate supply of credit from a diverse range of bank and non-bank sources. Similarly for a number of viable smaller and medium sized enterprises the capacity to access financing is constrained by debt overhang, particularly in relation to property exposures.
Restoring confidence and unlocking the demand for the finance that is required to invest in growth necessitates a coordinated and focused strategy for facilitating debt restructuring. The challenges facing SMEs in Ireland accessing credit are the product of a complex interplay of demand and supply side factors. Demand factors are clearly critical in determining the relative lack of credit extended to SMEs in Ireland, particularly for those businesses that are operating within the domestic sector.
Reduced demand for credit has been reaffirmed in a series of independent credit demand surveys that have been commissioned by the Department of Finance since 2010. The most recent Department of Finance SME Credit Demand Survey highlighted that the marked improvement in trading conditions with improved turnover, profit and staffing across different sizes and types of SMEs has not, as yet, translated into an increase in demand for credit. The next credit demand survey will begin at the end of March 2014 and will cover the six month period October 2013 to March 2014. In order to support SMEs the Government has developed a suite of State-sponsored financing instruments that provide a broader range of capital, equity and debt funding across all stages of the business cycle.
Furthermore, measures to promote access to finance amongst SMEs, including measures relating to debt restructuring, are a central feature of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs 2014. The APJ 2014 includes an integrated action plan that includes a series of measures designed to:
- Increase new lending
- Increase participation in Government sponsored initiatives
- Develop new sources of funding
- Increase awareness of Government measures and initiatives to support SMES and
- Enhance the financial capability of SMEs.
Debt overhang and SME arrears are issues which impact on the ability of a SME to meet its existing commitments as well as hindering its ability to secure additional credit which it may need. In June 2013 the Central Bank set quarterly institution-specific performance targets for covered banks to move distressed SME borrowers onto longer-term forbearance solutions. The targets set reflect the banks' capacity, processes and systems. The Central Bank has informed me that the banks have reported that they have met their required targets to date. This perspective has been reaffirmed by both the IMF and the European Commission who report that the workout of SME arrears is progressing and that imposed targets are being met.
Irish banks are well advanced in restructuring their SME loan books. Bank of Ireland indicated in their recently published results that they had reached resolution in 90% of distressed SME cases. Similarly the AIB's results indicate a resolution level of approximately 65%. It is also worth noting that defaulted loans for both banks have reduced year-on-year.
The Central Bank's process of assessing financial institutions in their efforts to move distressed SME borrowers onto longer term sustainable solutions is an important element in assisting SMEs to potentially transition from a distressed to a more sustainable state and will continue in 2014. Additionally, the Government's decision to fast track legislation to allow small companies (as defined by the Companies Acts) to apply to the Circuit Court for examinership, the Irish Banking Federation's new Protocol on Multi Banked SME debt and the on going work of the expanded Credit Review Office are all initiatives that will assist viable SMEs in addressing their debt situation.
I should stress that the Credit Review process remains available to any SMEs whose credit has been reduced or withdrawn by AIB or Bank of Ireland as well as when credit is refused by them. I would strongly advise any SME whose credit is reduced or withdrawn to avail of the services of the Credit Review Office.
In conclusion the Government remains committed to the SME sector and sees it as key engine of ongoing economic recovery and growth. Consequently the Department, working with the other relevant departments and agencies, will continue to monitor both the availability of credit and the process of debt management with a view to taking appropriate actions as warranted to ensure that SMEs in Ireland have the opportunity to reach their full potential in terms of growth and employment generation.
44. Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Finance the total number of fines issued to importers of illicit tobacco products and sellers of illicit tobacco products for each of the years, 2011, 2012 and 2013; the total value of fines issued in monetary value for each of the years; the number of such fines that were paid in each of the years; the total value in monetary value of such fines that were paid in each of the years; the amount in monetary value of outstanding fines for each of the years; if he is satisfied with the level of compliance with such fines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12479/14]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that numbers of fines imposed in the years in question in respect of offences relating to illicit tobacco products, and the total values of those fines, are as set out in the following table.
|
-
|
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
No. of cases in which fines were imposed |
118 |
92 |
62 |
|
Total value of fines imposed |
€253,150 |
€248,100 |
€165,750 |
The Revenue Commissioners are not responsible for the collection of fines imposed by the Courts and would not have details about their payment.
45. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Finance if he will revise the current VAT and duty tax on diesel to assist commercial transport companies who are currently finding it difficult to sustain business due to the considerable hikes in fuel costs; if he will consider offering them a rebate system similar to that available to airline and ferry companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12485/14]
View answerThe Energy Tax Directive obliges all Member States to exempt jet fuel used by airlines and fuel used by shipping in Community waters from duty, but does not allow for a similar exemption to be applied to fuel used by road transport operators. The Directive does, however, allow Ireland and other Member States to give a rebate on diesel used by road transport operators and I introduced the Diesel Rebate Scheme last year on that basis. That scheme enables qualifying transport operators to claim a repayment of part of the mineral oil tax paid on auto-diesel purchased in the State for use in qualifying vehicles in the course of business. The amount of the repayment will vary in accordance with the average price at which auto-diesel is available for purchase in the State during a repayment period, subject to a maximum of 7.5 cent per litre. The rate applicable for the current claim period, i.e. from October to December 2013, is 6.2 cent per litre.
The rate of duty per 1,000 litres applicable on auto diesel in Ireland is €479.02, compared to €674.15 in the UK, €561.46 in Sweden, €617.40 in Italy, €477.75 in the Netherlands and €451.45 in Denmark. The average retail price for auto diesel in Ireland, before the diesel rebate is applied, is €1.47 per litre (VAT inclusive). This compares to the average price (VAT inclusive) of €1.67 per litre of diesel in Northern Ireland, €1.63 and €1.68 per litres in Sweden and Italy respectively, and €1.51 per litre in the Netherlands, €1.45 in Denmark.
Commercial transport companies such as hauliers, should be registered for VAT and are permitted to deduct the VAT charged to them on the purchase of business inputs, including auto diesel. Irish VAT legislation must comply with the EU VAT Directive. There is no scope in VAT law to reduce the VAT rate on road diesel to a rate lower than the standard rate, currently 23%.
46. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Finance the measures that will be put in place to protect the 13,000 approved mortgage holders with Irish Nationwide Building Society whose loans are being sold to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation; and if borrowers should be allowed to buy out the remainder of their loans. [12520/14]
View answerI am fully aware of the concerns raised by the IBRC mortgage holders regarding continued protection under the Central Bank's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) for those mortgage holders following the sale of the loan book by the Special Liquidators. The Sale of Loan Books to Unregulated Third Parties Bill which is listed in the Government legislative programme was always intended to address concerns surrounding the continued applicability of the code after the sale of loan books to unregulated entities.
The Government is committed to bringing forward legislation to protect mortgage holders and will work with other interested parties to achieve the best solution for consumers. The Department is examining this issue fully with the Central Bank and the Attorney General's Office. Given that this is a complex issue, it requires careful consideration to ensure the general applicability of the CCMA is not put at risk.
In relation to the sale of mortgages to individual mortgage holders, I am advised that the Special Liquidators have, following due consideration, decided that the sale of the residential mortgage book in portfolios was the best method available to maximise market interest and return within the timelines set out in the Ministerial Instructions. It is not possible for me to interfere in the sales process developed by the Special Liquidators as to do so would have had a negative impact on the return achievable by the Special Liquidators. Such action would have left me open to challenge by other creditors of the bank.
