Okay. Of course the levy applies to individuals who are resident and non-resident for Irish tax purposes, but I will respond formally to the Deputy on the specific point he raised. This is a self-assessed tax, so people are required to make the relevant return. The Revenue Commissioners are very active in the area of compliance in respect of the domicile levy and taxpayers are aware of their obligations in that regard. As the Deputy will know, it applies to individuals domiciled in Ireland whose worldwide income in…

Given the Deputy referred to the commission, it is important to point to its work. I earlier referred to the remittance basis of tax, which concerns how non-domiciled Irish residents are taxed on their worldwide income. The current rules permit long-term non-domiciled residents to avail of the remittance basis of tax, even though these individuals may have significant ties to the State. The Commission on Taxation and Welfare, which the Deputy mentioned, considered the remittance basis of tax in its report published…

As the Deputy is aware, it is a long-standing practice of the Minister for Finance not to specifically comment on individual measures that may be part of the budget. With regard to kerosene used for home heating purposes, mineral oil tax and VAT at a rate of 13.5% are applied. Kerosene is also subject to the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy at a rate of 2 cent per litre. Mineral oil tax comprises a carbon and non-carbon component, as the Deputy is familiar with. The carbon component is commonly referred to …

I am aware of the volatility in the cost of filling or half filling a tank of oil. It is down to a number of factors. As the Deputy said, we have seen the price of oil increase very significantly in recent weeks. In the past 48 hours it has gone down by 5% or 6%, but who knows what will happen today or in the weeks ahead? Of course, the cost of refining is also a factor. The relative strength of the US dollar, given that oil is priced in that currency, is also a factor. The Deputy is effectively suggesting that the…

I am all too aware of the real-life impact of the increase in the cost of oil. When I was young, we grew up in a home where heating was provided by oil. I well remember my parents trying to put together money to fill or half fill the tank of oil. I am very aware of the reality and of the burden this imposes on many families. As the Deputy says, it is subject to a lot of fluctuation. However, he is specifically proposing that we make a move on carbon tax. If I may say so, I think it speaks to the Deputy's general ap…

The vacant homes tax is a new measure announced in last year's budget, which aims to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase to meet demand. The first chargeable period commenced on 1 November 2022. The first self-assessed returns are due on 7 November this year and the tax will be payable from 1 January 2024. The number of properties in scope and tax payable will depend on the self-assessed returns submitted by property owners, the number of properties declared as liable and the number of property owners…

I have in recent weeks asked my officials to engage with Revenue. I wanted to be satisfied about the preparatory work and engagement Revenue is having with people it believes are within scope of the tax. It is important to point out there is a range of exemptions, for example, for homes that underwent structural works, homes being actively marketed, where the owner has passed away, where it is unoccupied due to illness or where it is a derelict or uninhabitable property. There are a range of exemptions and exclusio…

In June this year, Revenue launched a series of information sessions and webinars with key relevant stakeholders, including Citizens Information, the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority, the Irish Council for Social Housing, the Irish property valuers association and all local authorities. Revenue has undertaken significant work to understand the number of properties that have indications they are likely to be vacant. Revenue can access data from other Government agencies to assist in identifying any prope…

I outlined earlier some of the numbers within that 166,000 that are not within scope of the vacant homes tax and the reasons. It is a policy decision for any Government whether, where someone has just deceased or where a property is up for sale or on a short-term let but on census night was vacant, that should be in scope. These are all policy decisions.

As the Deputy will be aware, an updated package of possible new own resources proposed by the European Commission on 20 June included a new proposal for a corporate statistical own resource based on company profits. He will also be aware that a number of officials from my Department met yesterday with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach - I assume the Deputy participated - to discuss this and a number of related EU proposals. I hope this exchange was helpful. The …

Of course, the context is that the EU budget is under real pressure, which I acknowledge. Ireland has always sought to be a very constructive member state when it comes to supporting the policies and initiatives of the Union, and the budget is under pressure. I have pointed to our broad support for some of the other measures that were set out within that package but I have confirmed in the House and at the meeting of EU Finance Ministers our opposition to what is currently being proposed in respect of this specific…

Ireland would be the fourth largest gross contributor to the corporate profits own resource after Germany, France and Italy, although we are a small member state in relative terms. At a political level, I set out my views at the July ECOFIN meeting and also put them directly to the EU budget Commissioner in May, when we met on the margins of the informal ECOFIN in Stockholm. In addition, my officials have had technical bilateral engagement with the relevant Commission experts in DG Budget on this file and have also…

As the Deputy will be aware, the small gift exemption is an annual CAT relief available to all recipients of gifts. This means a person can receive a gift to the value of €3,000 free of CAT. For example, a parent may give a gift up to the value of €3,000 to a child or anyone else each calendar year without any CAT arising. Two parents can make gifts of €3,000 each to a child, resulting in a gift to the value of €6,000 in any year free of CAT. It should be noted that there is no limit on the number of small gifts a …

Any changes to the small gift exemption must be considered in the context of competing demands. Increasing the small gift exemption threshold would incur a cost to the Exchequer, which may potentially inhibit the Government’s ability to introduce further cost-of-living supports for households and businesses. The relief, in its current guise, is fair, and providing an increase to the small gift exemption must be balanced against competing demands and as part of the annual budget and Finance Bill process. As the Depu…

As always when it comes to individual areas of taxation, they are considered in the lead-up to a budget. We are in a scenario where we have limited resources overall. We have a net tax package of €1.15 billion, as set out in the summer economic statement, and there are lots of different things we would like to do with that envelope. Principal in that would be an income tax package to support workers and pensioners, who pay tax as well, through changes to income tax and USC to ensure there is a fair distribution of …

As the Deputy said, I met the mortgage industry on 31 August 2023. Attendees included the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, CEOs and senior representatives of all the main mortgage lenders and servicers, including: AIB; Bank of Ireland; Permanent TSB; Pepper; Mars Capital; Avant Money; Dilosk; and other mortgage entities. The Central Bank of Ireland also attended. The Insolvency Service of Ireland, the Citizens Information Board and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, indicated at the meeting…

As the Deputy knows, in total we have more than 110,000 principal dwelling home mortgages that are in the non-bank sector, and the agreement on the eligibility criteria for switching is a significant step forward. It is the first time we have such agreement in place and we have the agreement of all of the different lenders that they will operate and support those mortgage switching and eligibility criteria. That is important. I have been engaged with the Central Bank on the question of how many customers it believe…

Before the eligibility criteria were agreed, we had very low levels of switching from the non-bank sector to the bank sector. This is in part because the eligibility criteria were not in place. The appetite to receive such customers was limited. That has been challenged. We now have agreed criteria and we have the Central Bank confirming that around one quarter of non-bank mortgage accounts come within scope of the switching criteria. That is a very significant start. We need to see activity levels in respect of sw…

The retail banking review last year highlighted the change in the Irish mortgage market, with the increased level of fixed-rate mortgages. A significant portion of new mortgages, some 85% in July of this year, are now fixed-rate mortgages. This will protect borrowers in the event of a rise in official and market interest rates, at least for the period that the interest rate is fixed. The review noted that there have been innovations in recent years in the mortgage market, from the introduction of long-term fixed ra…

I would welcome the introduction of more long-term fixed rate mortgages in Ireland in terms of the offering by the lenders. It de-risks a mortgage for a borrower if they can know with certainty what their repayments are going to be for the next five, ten or 15 years. It offers them certainty and there is real value in that. It is also important to highlight the role the credit unions are increasingly playing in the mortgage market. A number of them are already providing mortgage products. Through the work of the Mi…