The Minister knows Sinn Féin supports the OECD base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process. The announcement by the G7 of its intention to establish a global minimum effective corporation tax rate of 15% was the view of that group regarding where pillar 2 of that process should land, but there are other views. Pillar 2 in any global minimum effective corporate tax rate will not be decided by the G7 alone, but will be subject to the agreement of 139 countries and jurisdictions under the OECD inclusive framework,…

As the Minister knows, the agreement reached by the G7, which may not be the final agreement, only applies to certain companies. Even if it is applied, it will not affect all companies or foreign direct investment, FDI, companies here in Ireland. At this early stage, what is the Department's view of applying a minimum effective tax rate - whatever rate is agreed through the OECD process - across the board? Is it the Department's view that there should be a rate specific to those companies that fall into the net of …

The second component or plank of the G7 agreement on international taxation that was announced was to reallocate profits and taxing rights so that multinationals pay tax where they operate rather than only where their head offices are based. This mirrors pillar 1 of the BEPS process and will, if implemented, affect the State's revenues. However the published communiqué, while offering a broad picture, did not provide the granular details of the proposal agreed by the G7. Having attended the summit, I ask the Minist…

As I said in my earlier contribution, Sinn Féin supports the BEPS process and believes we should assert our own influence on it. Based on the formula proposed by the OECD, the Department of Finance estimated in January 2020 that this could reduce the State's corporation tax revenue by approximately €2 billion annually. However, the agreement announced by the G7 last Saturday arrived at a different formula, with market jurisdictions wielding taxing rights of over 20% of profits on earning margins above 10%. That dif…

Agreement at OECD level can only be reached if that agreement and both pillars operate on a fair and equitable basis. While we know that developing countries will, in all likelihood, be pushing for stronger measures under pillar 2 to increase their own revenues, it is now clear that members of the G7 are seeking their own exemptions and carve-outs for strategic companies, industries and sectors in their own economies. The British Government, for example, is reported to be seeking exemptions under pillar 1 for finan…

It was reported to the Ceann Comhairle's office that I would take Deputy O'Reilly's question on her behalf.

Housing policy over the past decade has failed. There has been an excessive reliance on developers and investment funds to deliver supply since the State withdrew from the housing market. Today's housing crisis is causing serious social dislocation. It is damaging the life prospects and chances of many workers and families in our communities. It is also damaging for the competitiveness of the economy, as I mentioned earlier. It is the natural outworking of an unnatural and damaging housing policy pursued by the Gov…

The State withdrew from it for a long time. The problem is that even when the Government has re-entered, it has not been up to scale. Read what the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, said and stop dodging the question. It said to double capital investment in housing. Sinn Féin has been saying it year after year. The Government has remained tone deaf to that message. As a result of that, the Government has caused a housing crisis through its policies. It did not happen by a national disaster. It was a res…

In the middle of May, the Government brought forward a financial resolution to the Dáil to provide for a 10% stamp duty charge on the bulk purchase of ten or more residential homes. I assume the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage crafted this measure in the full knowledge of activities in the housing market. Will the Minister indicate how many forward purchase agreements, which are exempt from the charge, were made prior to the introduction of this measure and in r…

That is an interesting but not surprising response from the Minister. He has no idea how many forward purchase agreements are already in place, yet he exempted every single one of them from the 10% stamp duty charge. He has no idea how many transactions have been completed since that date, yet he exempted them all from the increased stamp duty. That speaks volumes about how the Government was dragged, kicking and screaming, to this point, where it did want to be in the first place. The Minister did not want to tax …

I ask the Minister to let me explain this to him. It is not about apartments. He exempted every single apartment from this stamp duty charge. This is about homes. He exempted funds that are buying full housing estates if there was a forward purchase arrangement already in place. That is the point. It is nothing to do with apartments, every one of which is exempt in any case under his policy. This is about people buying homes. It is about what happened in Maynooth being allowed to happen again. The Minister has no i…

I spoke to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, on Saturday as the news emerged of the liquidation of Stobart Air. I pleaded with him to drop the idea of going for the tender process and to embark instead upon the emergency procurement process. I am glad to say that has been announced this morning, and it could mean we can have these services up and running within what the Department estimates will be several weeks, by early next month. I welcome that our concerns, which we put in writing, have been taken on bo…

I reiterate that I welcome going with an emergency process that I discussed with the Minister on Saturday. I also discussed with him the fact other airlines were interested in this lucrative PSO deal. I am pressing the Government tonight to see if this process can be shortened in any way. The Minister for Transport said that the process would begin next week but the Minister of State has just said that it will begin in the next "number of days". I must emphasise again that every single day counts, with patients bei…

I will begin by acknowledging that, as Deputy Mairéad Farrell has outlined, the statements today on the national recovery and resilience plan are taking place after the plan has been developed and submitted to the Commission. Just as the Government notified the European Council on 12 May that it had approved the own-resources decision which allowed the Commission to borrow on the financial markets - which is a huge decision in anybody’s book - without any consultation or engagement with this Dáil or any of its comm…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am sharing time with Deputies Conway-Walsh, Tully, Ó Laoghaire, Mitchell and Stanley. I am glad that I can introduce the Bill on Second Stage to the House. For far too long, Deputies will have heard me talk about how consumers have been ripped off by the insurance industry, which has put its customers at the bottom of the list in terms of priorities. Insurance is an essential part of a functioning economy. In many instances, it is a legal requirement. While consu…

I thank all the Deputies who spoke in tonight's debate on this legislation and all those who had kind words for myself and my party's campaign on insurance costs. There was reference earlier to the Government trying to steal my homework. I do not give a damn which Minister takes any of the work that I have done and runs with it. They can have it all, they can have this Bill, the dual pricing legislation - they should go and do it, run with it, but do not delay it. I was taken aback by the contribution by the Minist…

The new personal injuries guidelines have been in effect now for over a month. Sinn Féin supported the Judicial Council Act and these new guidelines for one simple reason, which is that they would bring greater certainty to the level of personal injury awards, reducing the cost of claims, and by doing so should reduce the cost of insurance for customers. This is only going to happen if insurance companies pass on in full the savings to their customers. As the Tánaiste has said himself, these new guidelines will red…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. We have done more than just produce a paper on this but have produced legislation. I look forward to the Tánaiste's views on this and we will have an opportunity to discuss and debate this on Second Stage shortly. The key thing for me is if this sort of oversight is brought in, it says very clearly to the insurance industry that it has to show clearly that every single euro that has been saved as a result of reduced awards has been passed on to the customers. Over the past sev…

Yesterday, my party leader, Deputy McDonald, asked the Taoiseach to clarify the future of the pandemic unemployment supports and stated that for as long as the public health emergency prevents people from going to work, the supports they rely on should be retained in full for the sectors affected. No clarity was provided by the Taoiseach but last night, according to media reports, the Tánaiste shed some light on this issue for his party. I ask him to shed light on it for the Dáil now. Will he give a commitment that…

Tairgim: "Go léifear an Bille don Dara hUair anois." I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." It is seven years since this legislation was first introduced in the Dáil on 16 April 2014. That is reflected in its Title, "Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Inclusive Budget Reform) Bill 2014". Since the Bill was introduced, we have had five amendments to the Constitution, reflecting the scale of change that has occurred in this State over recent years. There is more to be done and more change to com…