Questions

579. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Finance his plans to make joining a private pension scheme more advantageous to the ordinary worker and that relief is not only on PAYE but also on PRSI and USC for employee pension contributions and that age related thresholds are revisited so that younger employees can be encouraged to join. [19284/25]

580. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners have carried out, or have plans to carry out a study into the increase of the small gifts exemption; and the estimated costs and the number of people who may avail or benefit from the increase. [19285/25]

581. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Finance if the Revenue Commissioners will allow taxpayers with children in their care to use all their spouses’ tax-free allowance if their spouse does not work or the remainder if their spouse earns less than the threshold to ease the burden on working families and to make it financially more viable for one parent to stay at home if they so wish. [19286/25]

582. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Finance the number of contracts currently held by his Department with a company (details supplied); the details of contracts currently held by the Department with the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19344/25]

583. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Finance the legal status of postmasters as employees that was recently confirmed by both the scope section and the social welfare appeals office in an individual case (details supplied); and if the Revenue Commissioners will review their contractor agreement with An Post in light of the Supreme Court decision in Karshan. [19481/25]

584. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a detailed schedule for each Ireland strategic investment fund-loan to Higher Education Authority-funded higher education institutions, including the name of the project, institution, value, and date of approval. [19514/25]

585. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Finance to investigate whether the tax relief on employing a home carer can be applied if the person paying for the carer resides in the UK, (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19604/25]

586. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Finance if he will address the anomaly that exists in regard to inheritance tax in respect of childless couples (details supplied); if he will bring an end to this very obvious discrimination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19637/25]

587. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Finance to examine the case for a simplified statement of liability process from Revenue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19865/25]

588. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Finance if beauty services will benefit from VAT reduction measures; the basis upon which such decisions were made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19887/25]

589. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Finance the weight, value and type of illicit substances detected by officials from the Revenue Commissioners and State and private airports and ports of entry in the State, by location in the 2023, 2024 to date in 2025; the amount of cash and high-value items seized at same within the timeframe; and the amount of cash and high value items returned to persons on appea…

590. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider extending the scheme that is in place for women impacted by the CervicalCheck scandal to those affected by narcolepsy settlements which exempts those affected from paying income tax, capital gains tax, or capital acquisition tax on the payments or gains from investments arising from those sums of money made to them; and if he will make a st…

591. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown, by Department or office, of the percentage of employees who have disclosed a disability for the past ten years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20015/25]

592. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance if he is planning to review the current loan to value rules for the various State supports for first-time buyers, to address cases similar to that of a single person (details supplied) brought to my attention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20081/25]

593. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to make any changes to the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, to expand eligibility and modernise the scheme; if the eligibility criteria for the fuel grant would be reviewed and amended to reflect the increased uptake of electric cars in recent years, and the charging costs associated with same; and if he will make a statement on the m…

594. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to work with the Department of Finance to make any changes to the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, to expand eligibility and modernise the scheme; if the eligibility criteria for the fuel grant would be reviewed and amended to reflect the increased uptake of electric cars in recent years, and the charging costs associated with same; a…

595. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider applying a reduced VAT rate to hydrotreated vegetable oil biofuel when used for agricultural purposes, in recognition of the need to support the farming community in reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to more sustainable fuel alternatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20223/25]

596. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Finance if all IT systems used by his Department can utilise the síneadh fada; where this is not the case, to provide the list of systems which do not accept or facilitate the use of the fada, in tabular form; the steps being taken to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20300/25]

597. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance to provide a list of all EU directives which are awaiting transposition in his Department; the date on which transposition is due; and the reasons for any delay in transposition, in tabular form. [20327/25]

598. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance whether an external company is contracted to provide cleaning services to his Department building; and if so, the name of the company and the value of the contract. [20363/25]

599. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance whether an external company is contracted to provide security services to his Department building; and if so, the name of the company and the value of the contract. [20381/25]

600. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 58 of 9 April 2025, if ISIF risk profile and investment parameters include any consideration as to whether a company derives profit from their economic activity in territories illegally occupied under international law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20415/25]

601. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Finance the actions his Department is taking to ensure that the fuel grant element of the disabled drivers' and passengers scheme includes the charging of electric vehicles for disabled drivers as the current fuel grant only provides for petrol or diesel vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20464/25]

602. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance to clarify the reasons behind the Office of Public Works’ refusal to install customs dog kennels, and what steps are being taken to address the lack of suitable facilities to support Revenue’s Customs Service in maintaining effective border security. [20489/25]

603. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Finance the number of cases that are unresolved for over one year in the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman; if he believes more resources are needed to resolve longstanding cases in the body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20578/25]