Skip to main content
Normal View

Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021

Written Answers Nos. 222-241

Value Added Tax

Questions (222, 230, 234)

Neale Richmond

Question:

222. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to extend the VAT reduction from 23% to 21% that is due to end on 28 February 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4201/21]

View answer

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

230. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Finance if he will respond to a query raised in correspondence (details supplied) in relation to a further extension of VAT for the motor trade industry given the ongoing economic damage caused by Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4357/21]

View answer

Gerald Nash

Question:

234. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance the cost implications of extending the reduction in VAT from 23% to 21% for six months beyond February 2021; if he is considering this step; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4386/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 222, 230 and 234 together.

I do not plan on extending the temporary reduction from 23% to 21% in the standard rate of VAT beyond the end of February.

In terms of estimating the cost of such a measure, Revenue provides a ‘Ready Reckoner’ on its website at link;

https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf.

that facilitates the estimation of the yield or cost of potential changes to the tax code.

The ‘Ready Reckoner’ includes (on page 28) the estimated cost of extending the reduction in the standard VAT rate from 23% to 21% for a full year and for the remainder of 2021 (among other information which may be of interest to the Deputy). The cost of extending the reduced 21% standard VAT rate for six months, to the end of August 2021, is estimated to be approximately €445 million.

National Debt

Questions (223)

Willie O'Dea

Question:

223. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Finance the annual debt repayments as a share of GDP and as a share of GNI* in each of the years 2000 to 2020; and the estimated repayments for same in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4265/21]

View answer

Written answers

The tables below presents principal receipts and payments figures in respect of the National Debt for the years 2000 to 2019, as well as provisional, unaudited figures for 2020. The tables also present the net borrowing / repayment position for each of those years.

Both the receipts and payments figures represent the gross value of borrowing activity, including the rollover of debt and related hedging transactions.

For certain categories of debt – short-term debt for example – the gross figures for receipts and payments in any given year can appear inflated. This reflects the regularity with which these types of debt instruments are rolled-over. It is for this reason that the net position is also shown.

The National Debt is expected to grow further this year meaning there will be net borrowing. It is difficult however to give reliable estimates of gross receipts and payments figures at the aggregate level. This is because of the regularity with which certain types of debt instruments are rolled-over and the resulting scale of the gross receipts and payments flows.

It is however worth noting that there are no benchmark bond maturities in 2021. The only medium/long-term debt maturity of note this year is the final £0.4bn tranche of the UK bilateral loan which matures in March.

The NTMA plans to issue €16bn to €20bn of Government bonds in 2021. The key driver of this funding range is the Exchequer Borrowing Requirement, which was forecast at almost €18bn in Budget 2021 last October.

Table 1

Rounding may affect totals

Source: NTMA

*Provisional, unaudited figures.

For 2020 GDP and GNI* are based on the most up-to-date forecasts.

Table 2

Rounding may affect totals

Source: NTMA

*Provisional, unaudited figures

For 2020 GDP and GNI* are based on the most up-to-date forecasts.

Table 3

Rounding may affect totals

Source: NTMA

*Provisional, unaudited figures

For 2020 GDP and GNI* are based on the most up-to-date forecasts.

Rounding may affect totals

Tax Code

Questions (224)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

224. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) can qualify from income tax under the exemption rules for race horses in training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4282/21]

View answer

Written answers

I am advised by Revenue that the use of land for the breeding of racehorses, hunters etc., on a commercial basis, is regarded as a farming activity for tax purposes with any net profits liable to income tax or corporation tax, as the case may be.

There is no specific income tax relief available for racehorses in training. However, in certain circumstances horse racing can be treated as a hobby activity and therefore not liable to tax. Where a horse is moved to training and that activity is considered a hobby activity, then any profits earned which are associated with the racing activity while a horse is in training (e.g. winnings or sale proceeds) are not liable to tax. This also means that any associated costs incurred, or losses suffered while the horse is in training are not deductible for tax purposes.

This treatment does not apply to horse trainers because it is accepted by Revenue that, where a racehorse trainer who holds a licence trains horses which he or she owns or part owns, the activity is a trading activity. In those circumstances, the expenses of training the horses may be allowed as a deduction in computing taxable trading profits, and any income from prize money or the sale of horses must be taken into account in computing taxable income of the trade.

Question No. 225 answered with Question No. 184.

Natural Heritage Areas

Questions (226)

Christopher O'Sullivan

Question:

226. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance if consideration will be given to transferring the dunes system on the eastern beach of Inchydoney, County Cork from NAMA to the OPW in the interest of protecting this sensitive area of ecological importance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4305/21]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy will be aware that I, as Minister for Finance, have no role in respect of NAMA’s commercial operations or transactions.

In the case of the land referenced, I am advised that NAMA has never held an interest in this specific area of Inchydoney and so cannot advise on the matter raised by the Deputy.

The Deputy is advised that NAMA has a dedicated email address for queries and representations from Oireachtas members: oir@nama.ie. This email is monitored regularly and queries are responded to promptly, while observing the statutory principle of debtor confidentiality that is set out in the NAMA Act.

Question No. 227 answered with Question No. 202.

Primary Medical Certificates

Questions (228)

Michael Fitzmaurice

Question:

228. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Finance when assessments will recommence for new applications for primary medical certificates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4337/21]

View answer

Written answers

Following approval of the Finance Act 2020, which provides for the medical criteria for the Disabled Drivers Scheme, the HSE has been informed that medical assessments can recommence from 1st January 2021. This is considered to be an interim solution only. A comprehensive review of the scheme, to include a broader review of mobility supports for persons with disabilities, will be conducted this year. On foot of that review new proposals will be brought forward for consideration.

Separately, the ability to hold assessments may be impacted on by, among other things, the public health restrictions in place and the role of the HSE Medical Officers in the roll out of the Covid vaccination programme.

Question No. 229 answered with Question No. 181.
Question No. 230 answered with Question No. 222.
Question No. 231 answered with Question No. 182.

Banking Sector Data

Questions (232)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Question:

232. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Finance if his attention or that of the Central Bank has been drawn to any legal or regulatory obstacle placed by the State to persons in Ireland sending remittances through Irish banks to Cuba; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that it is not possible to send such remittances through Irish banks or service providers in contrast with other EU countries such as Spain, Germany, Italy and Sweden; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4378/21]

View answer

Written answers

Neither I, as Minister for Finance, nor the Central Bank of Ireland can direct an institution as to what commercial decisions it can and cannot take, provided that the institution complies with all applicable legal and regulatory obligations pertaining to its authorisation to provide financial products and services. Therefore, the decision by an institution to provide or restrict money remittances is not a matter for my Department or the Central Bank of Ireland.

From an Anti-Money Launder/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) perspective, we are not aware of any legal or regulatory obstacle placed by the State to persons in Ireland sending remittances through Irish banks to Cuba.

Cuba is not on the list of jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force, the organisation which sets the global standards in the AML/CFT area, of which Ireland is a long standing member. In addition, Cuba has not been deemed a ‘high risk third country’ by the EU.

It should be noted that banks are designated persons under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 and consequently have AML/CFT obligations to meet under that legislation.

In meeting these obligations, banks are required to adopt a risk-based approach to the conduct of their business. A commercial bank is required to undertake a business-wide money laundering/terrorist financing (ML/TF) risk assessment to identify and assess the risks of ML/TF involved in carrying on its business. I am informed that the factors which a Bank is required to take into consideration as part of its’ business wide ML/TF risk assessment shall include: customer type, the financial products and services provided, countries and geographical areas where it operates and the delivery channels it uses.

I have no role in influencing the risk tolerances which banks choose to accept in this area and consequently cannot direct them as to what approach they should adopt. In addition, I would point out that banks’ commercial decisions may be based on a wide range of factors.

Question No. 233 answered with Question No. 216.
Question No. 234 answered with Question No. 222.

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Questions (235)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

235. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the amount paid out under the Covid restrictions support scheme since its introduction by sector, week and month in tabular form. [4394/21]

View answer

Written answers

Revenue has published detailed statistics on the main COVID-19 subsidy schemes since late March 2020, including the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS), the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS). These statistics are available at link;

https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statistics/number-of-taxpayers-and-returns/covid-19-support-schemes-statistics.aspx

and are updated on a weekly basis at the same link.

The CRSS statistics (CRSS-Table 2) show the available information by sector and by claim period.

Covid-19 Pandemic Supports

Questions (236)

James Browne

Question:

236. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the provision of financial supports to drink wholesalers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4452/21]

View answer

Written answers

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no responsibility or remit for issuing financial supports to drink wholesalers. I understand this matter falls to my Ministerial colleague in the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.

Question No. 237 answered with Question No. 199.

Tax Code

Questions (238)

Gerald Nash

Question:

238. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance if another reference month can be used to calculate business mileage undertaken under the extended benefit-in-kind on company vehicles for those workers without a mileage record for January 2020 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4479/21]

View answer

Written answers

I am advised by Revenue that concessional treatment has been agreed in relation to the operation of the benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax charge on employer-provided vehicles during the course of COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

Therefore, where an employer provided vehicle is made available to an employee the following will apply for the time being:

(a) Employer Takes Back Possession of the Vehicle

Where an employer takes back possession of the vehicle and an employee has no access to the vehicle, no BIK shall apply for the period.

(b) Employer Prohibits Use

Where an employee retains possession of a vehicle, but the employer prohibits the use of the vehicle, no BIK shall apply if the vehicle is not used for private use. Records should be maintained to show that the employer has prohibited its use and no such use has occurred, e.g. communication from employer, photographic evidence of odometer etc.

(c) Employer Allows Private Use

Where an employee has a car provided by his/her employer and

- the circumstances in the previous example don’t apply;

- limited or reduced business mileage (if any) is undertaken during the period of the COVID-19 crisis; and

- personal use is limited

the amount of business mileage travelled in January 2020 may be used as a base month for the purposes of calculating the amount of BIK due. Thus, the percentage applied in the calculation of the cash equivalent, which is based on annualised business mileage, may have regard to the actual business mileage for January 2020, for the period of the COVID-19 restrictions. Appropriate records should be kept, e.g. business mileage travelled in January 2020, amount of private use, photographic evidence of odometer etc.

Employee Continues Working

Where an employee continues to undertake business travel as usual in an employer-provided vehicle, the usual BIK rules will apply. Further information on the taxation of employer-provided vehicles is available on Revenue's website.

Guidance on the above, and many other matters pertaining to COVID-19, can be found on Revenue's website*.

Allowing January 2020 to be used as the base month for the calculation of business mileage in scenario (c) above enables the annualised business mileage to be calculated having regard to the actual business mileage that would likely have been undertaken in the absence of any COVID-19 related travel restrictions. This is considered to be both a fair and reasonable approach, however it is acknowledged that this approach may not cater for every individual situation.

Therefore, in situations where an employee did not have any business mileage for their current role in January 2020, for example where an employee has taken on a new role since that time, a reasonable alternative may be used to calculate the annualised business mileage for 2021. The reasonable alternative used should have due regard to the specific role carried out by the employee, and the business travel the employee would likely be expected to undertake in the absence of any COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

*https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/index.aspx

Covid-19 Pandemic

Questions (239)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

239. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Finance the budgetary analysis being carried out to plan for long Covid-19 impacts in his Department and each State agency under the remit of his Department in tabular form. [4486/21]

View answer

Written answers

My Department's Budget 2021 was framed on the continued presence of the virus in Ireland into 2021. It was prepared against a background of extraordinary uncertainty regarding near-term economic and budgetary prospects. As a result, Budget 2021 was exclusively focused on 2021; to look any further would not seem realistic in the circumstances. It did however, allow for additional contingency funds to provide Government with the means to react to evolving circumstances over the course of the year depending on the trajectory of the virus.

A medium-term fiscal strategy will be published with the Stability Programme Update in Spring 2021, which will provide an opportunity to take stock and chart the path forward.

There are 17 bodies under the aegis of my Department. Of these, it should be noted that the Credit Union Restructuring Board was operationally wound down in 2017 and is awaiting formal dissolution, and the Irish Banking Resolution Corporation is in liquidation and as it does not have any remaining employees, no budgetary analysis relating to COVID-19 is being carried out.

The remaining bodies have provided the following information in relation to budgetary analysis being carried out to plan for long COVID-19 impacts:

Table1

Home Renovation Incentive Scheme

Questions (240)

Holly Cairns

Question:

240. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance his views on reinstating the home renovation incentive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4517/21]

View answer

Written answers

The Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) was introduced by Section 477B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 in 2014 and was terminated in accordance with its statutory sunset clause on 31 December 2018 having been extended twice before that and having been seen to have met its original objective viz. support for job creation in the construction sector in the wake of the financial crisis.

An ex-post analysis of the scheme found that in the context of a housing supply shortage, and the need at that time to deliver 25,000 additional housing units per annum over the period 2017-2021, the potential for displacement of labour from work on new builds to work on home renovations would create a high opportunity cost of labour associated with HRI which was not present at the inception of the scheme. Given the continued constraints on the construction sector’s ability to hire labour to deliver a supply of new housing units, similar issues may arise currently with regard to any re-introduction of the scheme.

The proposal in the Deputy's question would also give rise to additional Exchequer costs. Under my Department's Tax Expenditure Guidelines, the introduction of new tax incentive measures, or the continuation of measures which are due to terminate, should only be considered in circumstances where there is a demonstrable market failure and where a tax based incentive is more efficient than a direct expenditure intervention.

Having regard to these considerations, the case for re-introducing the HRI along the lines mentioned by the Deputy is not a strong one from the perspective of my Department.

Disability Act Employment Targets

Questions (241)

Holly Cairns

Question:

241. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance the absolute and relative number of persons with disabilities employed by his Department in each of the years 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020; if these persons are in full-time or part-time roles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4526/21]

View answer

Written answers

I wish to advise the Deputy during 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 the Department satisfied the 3% target of employing staff with disabilities and the Department is aware of the increase in the targets to 6% to be achieved by 2024 and is committed to achieving this revised target.

The following table sets out the percentage of employees with a disability for the years 2015 to 2019. Disability statistics for 2020 are not currently available as a census is completed each year in March for the previous year in line with the National Disability Authority (NDA) Annual Census.

Year

Percentage

2015

4.9%

2016

3.00%

2017

4.1%

2018

4.1%

2019

5.14%

The census is voluntary and self-declaration and is completed for the National Disability Census. As the information of whether or not the roles held are full time or part time is not required for the Census this information is not gathered. In addition, the grade of the individuals is not available.

During 2016/17, a major refurbishment project was undertaken by Facilities Management and the OPW in Government Buildings on Merrion Street. As part of that project, for example, electronic doors were installed to assist the movement of staff across the campus. In addition in 2019 an external lift was installed to South Block to allow staff with mobility difficulties to access the building easier.

The Department of Finance adheres to its requirements as set out by the Disability Act of 2005. The Department does not possess information regarding employees who are registered disabled. Staff can volunteer to self-declare a disability.

The Department has a Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) appointed who works closely with the NDA to ensure that the Department is fully compliant with its obligations under the Act.

Bi-monthly Disability Liaison Officer Network meetings are held to share knowledge and assist other DLOs across the Civil Service, as well as engaging with staff in accessing training and learning events, where needed.

The Department’s website, (www.gov.ie/finance), internal intranet and the Build to Share programmes (ePQ, eSubmission, eCorrespondence etc), which are used by staff in the course of their work, all have software to aid the visually impaired. A ‘loop’ system’ is in place in the Department’s Whitaker Conference Room for the hearing impaired.

The Department has also held Power Hours (awareness presentations) in the areas of Autism; Dyslexia in the Workplace and has marked International Day of people with disabilities and it is proposed to continue to do so.

Top
Share