I was not informed of that guidance but I am in the hands of the Ceann Comhairle and I am happy to deal with these questions in whatever way he sees fit.

I am happy to be guided by the Ceann Comhairle and to deal with the questions in the way he sees fit.

I welcome the opportunity to brief the Dáil on the international tax discussions on foot of the G7 meeting, which I attended in my role as president of the Eurogroup. It is important to stress that the Government believes that it is in everyone’s interest to achieve a sustainable, ambitious and equitable agreement on modernising the framework for international tax to reflect increasing globalisation and digitalisation. Second, it is also important to highlight that reform of the international tax rules has now been…

The strategy we will be implementing is a continuation of what we have done to date. First, in bilateral engagements with many Ministers, including the US Secretary of the Treasury, Ms Yellen, we will continue to make the case for legitimate tax competition within certain boundaries, with a recognition of the role that our rate plays for our country. Second, inside the OECD process that will be intensifying, we will continue to make the case for that rate and will outline our broader views in relation to other elem…

Deputy Doherty first asked if I anticipate that the potential global minimum effective tax rate will cover more companies than are currently encompassed in the G7 communiqué. That is a possibility but the case that we will be making is that regardless of where the rate ends up, if a rate is agreed at a global level, it should only apply to the very largest companies. As Deputy Doherty has already noted, the communiqué as it currently stands only applies to companies generating more than three quarters of a billion …

I thank Deputy Doherty for his further question on pillar 2. There is no further detail beyond the communiqué to which Deputy Doherty referred. The main element of the statement from the G7 refers to the annual global turnover threshold. Beyond that, there is no further detail agreed between the G7 economies. That will happen within the OECD. The detail will be determined within the OECD and that will then structure the way in which a reallocation of taxing rights will take place. That is obviously something that i…

I thank the Deputy for his question. I am not in a position to comment on the tax affairs of any particular company. Obviously what is driving the process overall is the understandable issue, namely, to address the gap between how tax structures are currently developed across the world and the increasingly digital nature of the global economy. Deputy Doherty asked whether the Department has been able to update its revenue loss forecast from the G7 communiqué. We have not been able to do that because there is not en…

I am both publicly and privately making the case for the kind of agreement that Ireland would be willing to support. I am talking about my views on the rates and on the need for an agreement that accommodates small and medium-sized economies and not just the larger ones. In terms of what I believe an acceptable model could look like later on in the year, if agreement can be reached, it is one that will continue to be able to accommodate a low but substantial rate on a broad base of economic activity, as is the case…

The European semester is a mechanism to co-ordinate economic policies across EU member states to help achieve overall economic stability and growth. On 2 June, the European Commission published the 2021 European semester spring package. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this exceptional semester cycle has been adapted to facilitate the implementation of the recovery and resilience facility, RRF, with the primary change being that for 2021 there are no country reports or country-specific recommendations, CSRs. I…

Deputy Barry is correct that at other points the country-specific recommendations referred to how we can get young people trained and back into good jobs quickly after being unemployed. This is important in the context of this pandemic because young people have seen such a big change in their incomes and such a loss of jobs. I assure the Dáil that any plans we put together will be solely focused on how jobs can be created and young people can go into jobs where they will receive the training and support they need t…

Many of the various training and educational programmes announced by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, earlier in this pandemic have been implemented. For example, we have had good uptake in the apprenticeship and training programmes that have been put in place. The Minister for Social Protection has said that as we get to the point where our economy is more safely and sustainably open, we will put in place additional training programmes through the Depa…

Under the vacant site levy provisions of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, planning authorities were empowered to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market valuation of relevant properties listed on local authority vacant site registers in 2018, which relevant owners were liable to pay in January 2019. The rate of the levy increased to 7% for sites listed on local authority vacant site registers from 2019 onwards, which site owners became liable to pay in January 2020. I am informed by the Department …

If I look at the performance of the vacant site levy, 89 sites were valued at €132 million in 2018. They were liable at the 3% rate in 2019 in respect of their valuation for 2018. For 2019, those 89 sites grew to 181 sites and, in 2020, grew further to 215 sites. Demand letters were issued for 79 of those 215 sites and, as the Deputy has said, €21,000 in payments was received in respect of 2020. It should be said this was never about revenue generation but was about the use of the land to see if a catalyst could be…

I believe I have seen the piece of correspondence to which the Deputy has referred but just in case I have not, I would be happy to consider it if she could share it with me this evening by handing it to me during a division or later on. I am aware of a few models in respect of this issue. The Deputy correctly made the point that this is not about how we would generate revenue, it is about how we change the use of land. I am aware of different models for how that is done in different countries and just in case I ha…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 82 and 131 together. The Deputy has offered a view about my view towards deficits. We ran a deficit last year of €18.5 billion. The deficit this year, expressed as a percentage of our GDP, will be larger than the deficit for last year. I am well aware of the role of deficits and Government borrowing in stepping in to support our economy. Over the past two years when the demands on our economy and society have been so great, I and the Government have run very large deficits for o…

I thank the Deputies for the different questions. In response to Deputy Nash, the answer is yes, I do. I am well aware of all the challenges faced by so many with regard to housing. We are putting in place a huge amount of additional investment to respond to it. I will say to Deputy Connolly that I am aware of it and I have read it. I agree with some but not all of it. Am I going to act on it? I am facing many different demands to increase borrowing at the moment. I cannot, therefore, commit to any particular actio…

I have beliefs about the value of our society and great beliefs regarding the role of a strong State to meet the needs of our society. That is what I, this Government and the previous Government have been working so hard to do in responding to the many needs and challenges we know are there for our citizens in finding the homes they need at affordable prices and rents. I acknowledge that we have much more to do. To answer Deputy Connolly's question regarding my views on the report, I believe things are missing in i…

One of the Department’s main concerns is to ensure that SMEs have access to sufficient lending or liquidity and that access to credit for SMEs is maintained. The Government has announced a range of measures to assist companies to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 restrictions and to ensure that they have access to sufficient liquidity. Lenders are obliged, under the Credit Reporting Act 2013, to submit information to the Central Credit Register, CCR. Submissions of information to the CCR must be consistent…

I respectfully suggest to the Deputy that I do not believe my answer missed the question she put to me. She asked me a question about credit scores. I made the point that we have credit records rather than credit scores and I outlined the way in which that would be dealt with by banks and by the regulator. A point on which I agree with the Deputy is that we, of course, want to put in place the supports, and we have put them in place, to give every business that is viable but currently vulnerable every prospect of b…

I very much agree with what the Deputy said. In towns and villages throughout our country, there are small businesses that are even more important now than they normally would be. That is why the Government has put in place so many supports to help them. It is why we have the warehousing of tax liabilities and an employment wage subsidy scheme that is due to continue until the end of this year. It is why, when small businesses leave the Covid restrictions support scheme, many of them will receive a significant paym…