Written Answers Nos. 214-221
214. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Finance if his Department is taking any action to address the situation whereby banks and other financial institutions in Ireland have not paid any interest on deposit accounts to customers relating to the rising interest rates on bank loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23933/23]
View answerDeposit interest rates are a means for banks to attract or maintain a stable source of funding. The determination of the rate of interest to offer to attract depositors is a commercial decision, which is the sole responsibility of the board and management of each bank.
Neither the Central Bank of Ireland nor I have a role in setting the interest rates offered by banks on monies held on deposit. Although the State is a shareholder in some of the banks operating in the jurisdiction, those entities must also be run on a commercial and independent basis, and their independence in this regard is protected by the relationship framework agreements.
In terms of the interest rates currently available on deposits, the European Central Bank (ECB) released March 2023 Euro Area Bank Interest Rate Statistics on 5 May 2023. The Central Bank of Ireland Retail interest rates release was released on 10 May 2023, and it can be accessed at: www.centralbank.ie/statistics/data-and-analysis/credit-and-banking-statistics/retail-interest-rates .
I am informed by the Central Bank of Ireland, that:
• Interest rates on household overnight deposits stood at 0.03 per cent in March 2023, while the euro area equivalent was 0.151 per cent.
• Interest rates on new household deposits with agreed maturity was 1.14 per cent in March in Ireland, while the euro area equivalent was 2.11 per cent.
• Interest rates on outstanding deposits’ rates with agreed maturity was 0.43 percent in March 2023 an annual increase of 34 basis points since March 2022. Interest rates on outstanding deposits’ rates with agreed maturity in the euro area was 1.51 percent in March 2023.
As at end-March 2023, €150.9 billion was held on deposit by Irish households with Irish resident credit institutions, of which €141.4 billion is in overnight deposits and €2.5 billion is on deposit with agreed maturity.
It is worth noting that banks currently hold an unusually large share of overnight deposits by historical standards. This large share of monies held in overnight deposit reflects two factors:
• First, when interest rates were low (or negative up until July 2022), there was effectively little or no difference between the return on overnight versus term deposits for savers; and
• Second, much of the current build-up of deposits represents ‘passive’ pandemic savings – that is, savings that households built up when there were restrictions on economic activity and therefore reduced spending opportunities during the pandemic.
The difference between interest rates on overnight deposits and term deposits represents an increased opportunity cost of holding overnight deposits. Over time, it would be expected to see some flow from overnight to term deposits for savers to achieve a greater return.
Increasing competition to attract these relatively stable sources of funding could also contribute to a greater pass-through of policy rates into deposit rates over time.
The Deputies may also wish to note that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's (CCPC) website includes a number of comparison tools to help consumers shop around. These tools can be used to compare the features and rates of both lump sum deposit products and regular savings accounts.
215. Deputy Brian Leddin asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide the breakdown of new car sales in each VRT band for 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23950/23]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that the breakdown of new Category A (passenger car) registrations in each VRT band for 2021, 2022 and to the end of March 2023 is provided in the table below.
|
VRT Band |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Band 01 |
15,603 |
23,907 |
14,078 |
|
Band 02 |
999 |
479 |
144 |
|
Band 03 |
60 |
53 |
<10 |
|
Band 04 |
1,464 |
1,388 |
986 |
|
Band 05 |
308 |
256 |
206 |
|
Band 06 |
274 |
116 |
352 |
|
Band 07 |
2,951 |
4,619 |
2,614 |
|
Band 08 |
1,116 |
2,268 |
1,381 |
|
Band 09 |
7,581 |
7,783 |
3,636 |
|
Band 10 |
8,012 |
7,260 |
4,388 |
|
Band 11 |
12,247 |
11,965 |
6,702 |
|
Band 12 |
15,772 |
13,782 |
8,367 |
|
Band 13 |
9,354 |
7,918 |
5,244 |
|
Band 14 |
8,792 |
11,871 |
4,253 |
|
Band 15 |
7,283 |
4,833 |
2,611 |
|
Band 16 |
6,399 |
3,621 |
1,752 |
|
Band 17 |
1,784 |
1,215 |
555 |
|
Band 18 |
3,524 |
1,324 |
623 |
|
Band 19 |
931 |
468 |
121 |
|
Band 20 |
798 |
972 |
369 |
216. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance when the Medical Board of Appeal for Disabled Drivers will be appointed (details supplied). [23970/23]
View answerThe Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme provides relief from Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT on an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant.
The Scheme is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or as a passenger and also to certain charitable organisations. In order to qualify for relief, the applicant must hold a Primary Medical Certificate issued by the relevant Senior Area Medical Officer (SAMO) or a Board Medical Certificate issued by the Disabled Driver Medical Board of Appeal (DDMBA). To qualify for a Primary Medical Certificate an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled, and satisfy at least one of the six medical criteria, as set out in the Finance Act 2020.
In the event that a PMC is not granted by the relevant Senior Area Medical Officer an appeal may be made to the independent Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal (DDMBA).
At an appeal hearing the Board reviews the decision by a HSE Primary/Senior Area Medical Officer and determines if an appellant does, or does not meet, one of the six medical criteria. Only if an appellant meets one of the six eligibility criteria will the Board issue a Board Medical Certificate.
I have no role in relation to the granting or refusal of PMCs and the HSE and the Medical Board of Appeal must be independent in their clinical determinations.
Following the resignation of all previous DDMBA members in November 2021, I had hoped that I would be in a position to establish a new DDMBA and recommence the appeals process by this point.
With respect to the recruitment of new members, as background five members are legislatively required for a functional Board with a quorum of three needed for any appeal hearing. The Department of Health has led on all actions and tasks with respect to Expression of Interest Campaigns to recruit candidates. Department of Finance officials have provided support to the Department of Health in this matter. Active recruitment efforts began shortly after the resignation of all members in November 2021, with the first Expression of Interest Campaign launched in January 2022. By November 2022 after three recruitment campaigns, five individuals had been nominated by the Minister of Health, pending successful completion of Garda vetting of two final candidates. These candidates successfully completed Garda vetting in January 2023.
Engagement began in December 2021 with the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), to ascertain the conditions for their continued hosting of the new DDMBA. In February 2023, the National Rehabilitation Hospital (that has hosted the DDMBA since 2000) indicated their intention to withdraw their services with immediate effect. Finance and Health officials are actively seeking to implement new arrangements, including engaging with the NRH. As there are a range of requirements and complex issues involved this may take some time.
In March 2023, one nominated member of the DDMBA resigned for personal reasons. The Department of Health with support from Department of Finance officials launched another Expression of Interest Campaign on 3rd April 2023 with a closing date of 28th April 2023. One candidate has been interviewed.
Requests for appeal hearings can still be sent to the DDMBA secretary based in the National Rehabilitation Hospital.
Assessments for the primary medical certificate, by the HSE, are continuing to take place. In this regard, an important point to make is that even though there has been no appeal mechanism since the previous Board resigned, applicants who have been deemed not to have met one of the six eligibility criteria required for a PMC are entitled to request another PMC assessment six months after an unsuccessful PMC assessment.
217. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the estimated cost of introducing a living wage set at €13.85 per hour for public and civil service workers. [23762/23]
View answerIn relation to the civil service, for which my Department holds detailed data, the suggested Living Wage at €13.85 per hour based on the civil service 35 hour standard net working week equates to an annual salary of approximately €25,294. Detailed data on civil service staff indicates that less than 0.1% of staff (FTE) in the civil service are on salary points less than the suggested Living Wage.
Those currently on an annual salary of less than €25,294 may be receiving remuneration in excess of the suggested living wage through additional premium payments in respect of shift work or atypical working hours. In addition, these salary scales progress to the suggested Living Wage and above through normal incremental progression.
The current public service agreement is Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2023. The pay measures in the extended agreement amount to total headline adjustments of 9.5% over the lifetime of the Agreement. The extended Agreement is weighted towards those at lower incomes headline increases of approximately 12.5% for the lowest paid public servants. This would include all those earning less than €25,294 per annum.
The public service information sought in this request would require detailed data on the position of staff on each salary scale across the public service and details of the standard working hours per week for each individual grade. This data is not held in my Department.
218. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will list every property owned or rented by the National Library of Ireland; the rent paid by the National Library of Ireland on each property every year since 2013; a summary of the use to which each property has been put over the past ten years and is currently being put; and any period during which the property has been out of use. [23831/23]
View answerThe Commissioners of Public Works (OPW) have confirmed that the following buildings are occupied by The National Library in the years 2013 to date:
The National Library
The National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 are State owned buildings. The buildings include:
• The Heraldic Museum
• National College of Art & Design
• 2-5 Kildare Street
• Racquet Court, Leinster Lane
• Ryan’s Garage, Leinster Lane
The buildings are used as library buildings and were occupied by the National Library in the period 2013-2023.
Meetinghouse Square
The National Library, Meetinghouse Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 is a State owned building.
The property is used for the National Photographic Archives and was occupied by the National Library in the period 2013-2023.
Santry Book Repository
The National Library occupies part of a building at the Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry. The building is held by the OPW under a 99 year licence.
The building is used as library storage and was occupied by the National Library in the period 2013-2023.
Park West Industrial Estate
The OPW lease a warehouse on behalf of The National Library at Unit 4, Park West Industrial Estate, Nangor Road, Dublin 12.
The building was occupied by the National Library in the period 2013-2023 and details of the rent paid are outlined in the table below.
|
Building |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
|
Park West Ind Est Unit 4, Park West Industrial Estate, Nangor Road, Dublin 12. |
€18,386.25 |
€73,545.00 |
€73,545.00 |
€67,332.50 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
|
|
€90,000.00 |
€90,000.00 |
€90,000.00 |
€90,000.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015 |
2014 |
2013 |
|
|
|
€90,000.00 |
€90,000.00 |
€90,000.00 |
|
219. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will list every property owned or rented by the National Archives of Ireland; the rent paid by the National Archives of Ireland on each property every year since 2013; a summary of the use to which each property has been put over the past ten years and is currently being put; and any period during which the property has been out of use. [23832/23]
View answerThe Commissioners of Public Works (OPW) have confirmed that the following buildings are occupied by The National Archives in the years 2013 to date.
The National Archives Warehouse and offices
The National Archives is located at Bishop Street, Dublin 8 and is a State owned building.
The building is used as an office and warehouse storage facility and was occupied by the National Archives in the period 2013-2023.
Four Courts Public Records Building
The National Archives occupy part of the building at the Four Courts Public Records Building, Four Courts, Inns Quay, Dublin 7. The building is State owned and was occupied by the National Archives in the period 2013-2023.
Bracetown Business Park
The OPW lease a warehouse on behalf of The National Archives at Unit 17&18 Bracetown Business Park, Clonee, Co Meath.
The building has been leased since 2017 and is used for storage.
The building has been occupied by the National Archives since the lease was taken out in 2017 and details of the rent paid are outlined in the table below.
|
Building |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
2020 |
|
Warehouse Bracetown Business Park, Clonee, Co Meath. |
€84,176 |
€168,352 |
€139,943 |
€139,943 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
|
|
€139,943 |
€139,943 |
€139,943 |
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015 |
2014 |
2013 |
|
|
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
220. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform his views on whether a company (details supplied) will continue to be able to bid for State contracts while the Australian government investigates it for leaking confidential state tax documents to its own clients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23913/23]
View answerPublic procurement in Ireland is governed by EU Procurement Directives and National Legislation. Public bodies are obliged to act in accordance with these rules and accordingly must respect the general principles of EU law including non-discrimination, the free movement of goods and services, equal treatment, and proportionality and transparency in awarding public contracts. They must also ensure that procurement transactions and decisions are fair, equitable and deliver value for money.
The criteria upon which contracting authorities may exclude applicants from the award procedure of public contracts are set out in the Directives and in corresponding national legislation. In addition, information on the circumstances in which a contracting authority may exclude applicants can be found in Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services published by the Office of Government Procurement. These guidelines were first published in July 2017 and updated in January 2019 and are available from the OGP website (www.ogp.gov.ie).
Certain mandatory exclusion grounds apply to all public procurement competitions. Mandatory grounds for exclusion include where a candidate/entity has been convicted of a criminal offence including organised crime, corruption, fraud, money laundering, terrorism, child labour and human trafficking. A failure to comply with tax and social welfare obligations are also mandatory grounds for exclusion from a competition. A conviction can relate to a candidate, any member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the candidate and any person with powers of ‘representation, decision or control’ over the candidate.
Where a contracting authority becomes aware at a later stage in the process that a tenderer is subject to any of the mandatory Exclusion Grounds, the 2016 Regulations also allow for exclusion of the tenderer during the procurement procedure.
Under the EU Procurement Directives, contracting authorities also have discretion to exclude candidates for competing in a public procurement competition. Discretionary grounds include where the contracting authority can demonstrate violations of environmental, social and labour law. In addition, where a contracting authority can establish professional misconduct, bankruptcy, poor past performance along with attempts to distort the competition, commit serious misinterpretation or unduly influence the decision making process, they can disqualify a candidate from a procurement competition.
Where there is a conviction under one of the mandatory grounds for exclusion, a bidder is excluded from competing for public contracts for a period of five years from the date of the relevant conviction. Exclusion on the basis of voluntary exclusion grounds is for a period of three years from the date of the relevant event.
However, suppliers must not be excluded if they have provided sufficient evidence of reform. A bidder has the opportunity to provide evidence at tender stage of “self-cleansing” measures and must not be excluded if such evidence is considered sufficient. Such evidence could include, for example, payment of compensation in respect of any damage caused, active cooperation with investigating authorities by clarifying the facts and circumstances, implementation of technical, organisational or personnel measures that are appropriate to prevent further misconduct. The self-cleansing option cannot, however, be extended in the case of exclusion from participation in procurement procedures because of a final court judgment.
There are also derogations from the application of the mandatory exclusions for overriding requirements in the public interest, e.g. the provision of vaccines in an emergency public health scenario. A contracting authority may also disregard tax and social security obligation breaches where the exclusion would be clearly disproportionate i.e. where only minor non-payment amounts are involved. The exclusion of bidders on grounds other than those set out in the regulations is open to legal challenge by the excluded bidders.
221. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform when two bridges (details supplied) in County Mayo were replaced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23784/23]
View answer222. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform when a bridge (details supplied) in County Mayo was replaced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23785/23]
View answer223. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will list the locations where bridges have been replaced in townlands surrounding two areas in County Mayo (details supplied) in the past five years, in tabular form; when these bridges were replaced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23786/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 221, 222 and 223 together.
The Office of Public Works (OPW), has a statutory remit for the maintenance of the Moy Arterial Drainage Scheme under the Arterial Drainage Act 1945.
Repairs and the installation of parapet walls were carried out to a bridge at Cloonslaun in 2022. There are a number of bridges along the Moy Arterial Drainage Scheme for which OPW has maintenance responsibility. Repairs and replacements are carried out when necessary. Further information on specific locations may be provided, by the OPW Ballina District Office, who will contact the Deputy.
