I truthfully do not know the answer as to whether officials in the Department of Finance were on that call or reviewed that transcript. I am happy to find that out for the Deputy. I truthfully do not know that. I also cannot account for why the CEO of the bank said that on an investor call. I genuinely believe that it made no material difference to the formal sale process and recovering taxpayers’ money that was invested in PTSB. A full, transparent and open process was undertaken, which ultimately led to a board r…

I thank Deputy Connolly for his question and his comments, and that is the approach the Government is trying to take. None of this is easy for households or for businesses. War has caused havoc in the world and it has caused a shock to the global economy. Ireland, as a small open economy, is not immune from that. There is no government in the wide earthly world that can insulate its people, even if it wishes to, from the impact of that but what we have said from day one consistently across Government is that we wil…

It is a fair question. What I am saying is that it is not possible for somebody to absorb the full 32 cent. I get that point but I also have to balance that with the fact the Deputy, on behalf of his constituents, Deputy McCormack, on behalf of his, and all of us on behalf of ours, will be looking for things to be done in the budget too. I cannot ignore the fact that the price of oil is now falling and the fact the Strait of Hormuz is currently open. I cannot ignore the cost, in that on the way in today, I saw the …

It is a fair question. Thankfully, as a country, we have had an ability to bring in a very significant package, one of the largest packages in the European Union, without having to borrow for it. Our nearest neighbour, the UK, brought in a much smaller package per head of population and had to go to the markets and borrow for it. I think it got charged approximately 5% for the luxury of that. The fiscal reserves we built up as a country - the surplus we are running in a growing economy - have enabled us to act but …

As the Deputy will be aware, the 9% VAT rate will be reintroduced for hairdressing services and for restaurant and catering services in the food-related hospitality sector from 1 July 2026. We have different views on this. I am very pleased that this is happening. The decision reflects the Government's commitment to supporting employment in sectors that are highly labour-intensive and form a key part of the domestic economy. I am aware the Deputy and I have different views on it. In my view, it reflects a need that…

While I vehemently disagree with the Deputy on this, and he vehemently disagrees with me on my position on it, I do not doubt his bona fides on it. Nobody, neither nor the Deputy, is suggesting that we have a monopoly on trying to support jobs. The Deputy wants to do it as do I. We all want to sustain employment. I accept that point but we have a difference of view on how to go about it. I am very blunt and honest about this. I campaigned in an election and I stood in cafés, restaurants and hairdressers and I told …

The Deputy would not be doing his job if he was not scrutinising the decisions we make; that is his job. I believe it is a good use of taxpayers' money because the cost of this needs to be seen alongside the amount of income tax and other taxes these businesses and their employees are going to create. When I go back to my community and constituency and go into the local café, I know they will feel some sense of relief that some Bill is coming down the line. What annoyed me a lot about the 9% VAT rate in the recent …

I can indeed. I thank Deputy McCormack for his question. I see there are a lot of students in the Public Gallery. I am not sure what school they are from, but they are very welcome. They picked a lovely sunny day to come into the Dáil. I thank them for being here and hope they enjoy their summer holidays, which are coming shortly. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government commits to maintaining the Cabinet committee subgroup on insurance reform to ensure insurance issues continue to receive strong a…

Deputy McCormack is right. We have introduced significant reform in this sector and we now need the industry to ensure the benefit of those reforms are passed onto the customer. We have seen some progress in some areas but, frankly, we have not seen enough. We are very carefully monitoring this in the Cabinet committee. We are often asked for a long list and told if we do A, B, C and D, the premiums will fall. However, as the Deputy rightly suggested, we need to show this is actually happening. I am also conscious …

This is a big area we are focusing on. I am conscious insurance costs are significant for all businesses, but they can have a disproportionate significance for smaller businesses, where a hike or an extra premium cost that was not expected could be the difference between viability or not. We have all met businesses in that place. Attracting more competition into the market is very important and helpful, and we are actively seeing what can be done in that space. Obviously, those are commercial decisions but making s…

I thank Deputy Cahill for the question. This is an important issue on which I have had several meetings. Capital acquisitions tax, CAT, is a tax which applies to both gifts and inheritances, and is charged at a rate of 33%. For CAT purposes, the relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance and the person who receives it determines the maximum amount, known as the group threshold, below which CAT does not arise. The group thresholds were most recently increased in budget 2025. Deputy Cahill will reme…

I appreciate this is a serious issue which causes stress, strain and worry to many people. I have had much engagement with colleagues and groups about this and continue to do that. We keep all these issues under review as part of the finance Bill each year. The tax strategy group will again look at these issues this year. We will publish data, information and costings that can help to inform the debate in these Houses. The only thing I have to say, to be honest with people, is that some of these moves are quite exp…

Deputy Cahill certainly gives that very clear impression. I know this is a serious issue and I hear from colleagues on the Government and Opposition benches about it. I share some of that concern too. In the specific role that I hold, I have to be honest about balancing the competing demands. We will have a certain amount available for tax measures and we will have many things that different people want to do. Inheritance tax is one that is coming up. Personal income tax is also coming up. We will have to look at a…

As I know Deputy Callaghan is aware, the programme for Government and our party manifesto commit to making progressive changes regarding income tax. The aim here is to make sure that people can keep some more of their own money. People in this country still feel that when they work hard, play by all the rules and then look at the slip at the end of the week or month and see the take-home pay figure, they are left struggling to get by, let alone get ahead. We want to make progress on that over the course of the next…

I have to give the annoying answer that we will consider all of these matters in the budget. I do not want to rule anything in or out today, other than to say a couple of things. The Deputy is right to acknowledge the burden that people feel from taxation. She is also right to acknowledge, very fairly, the benefit that we see from the taxes that people pay. The USC is expected to bring in €5.9 billion this year. It would be a very different challenge if we did not have that almost €6 billion. The next staging post …

I thank Deputy Callaghan for acknowledging that there will be a personal income tax package. The aim is that it will deliver in line with the programme for Government commitments around progressive changes. We will look at the various options in the round. We will decide them on 6 October and will have plenty of opportunities to engage directly and to engage through this structure in advance of that. The point the Deputy made about the minimum wage increases not being gobbled up for low-income workers by USC is imp…

I thank the Deputy. As he will be aware, wealth is already taxed in a number of ways in Ireland. These include capital gains tax, CGT, capital acquisitions tax, CAT and local property tax. Stamp duty also acts as a tax on wealth, including that charged on the acquisition of shares, stocks and marketable securities of Irish registered companies, and on the acquisition of property both residential and non-residential. The revenue raised from a wealth tax, regardless of the form it takes, may not be additional to that…

I thank Deputy Murphy for his contribution. I have already outlined the Commission on Taxation and Welfare's 2022 report and the issues that it suggested would impede the implementation of such a tax, as well as the Parliamentary Budget Office report from 2024. I have also outlined how we have one of the most progressive taxation systems and social transfer systems in the EU and the OECD and the research work being carried out by the ESRI. I have no doubt that this is an issue Deputy Murphy will return to again whe…

I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this important issue. At the outset, everyone on all sides of this House recognises the significant challenges, stress and worry that families face when they have a sick child, and the very significant challenges families face in relation to paediatric spinal services. There has been and continues to be ongoing additional investment in this area. A total of €30 million has been allocated to help tackle spinal waiting lists, including a ring-fenced theatre, additional orthopaedic su…

To be clear, the Government is fulfilling its commitment to this House and the decision that it took to appoint Mr. Remy Farrell SC to carry out a scoping inquiry. There are a number of advocacy groups. There may be eight advocacy groups in this space in relation to children's paediatric spinal care and many are engaging with Mr. Farrell SC. I would encourage genuinely everybody to engage without prejudice to provide information, ask questions and raise concerns that they would like Mr. Farrell SC, as an independen…