Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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3. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on his meetings in 2013 with representatives and lobbyists from the financial services industry, the tobacco industry, the property industry and any other industry representative groups. [1756/14]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Could the Minister report on meetings he had in 2013 with representatives and lobbyists within the financial markets system, the tobacco industry, the property industry and other industry groups? This is all the more relevant in view of the information in recent days about the nauseating gouging of the Irish taxpayer by company consultants to Irish Water to the tune of €50 million.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Throughout the course of 2013, I engaged in a large number of meetings with a wide variety of economic and social representative groups. These meetings involving Department officials and I with representative groups are an important input into my work as Minister for Finance. They provide an opportunity to consider the key issues for a wide range of economic stakeholders in as efficient manner as possible. The following meetings are but a small sample of those which I have engaged in over the course of last year as they refer only to what can be categorised as meetings with representatives and lobbyists from the financial services industry, the tobacco industry, the property industry and any other industry representative groups, which was the key theme of the question.

On 7 May 2013, I along with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice and Equality met with the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers' Advisory Committee. The meeting concerned a general discussion on the smuggling of tobacco and its social and fiscal impact. On 12 June 2013, I met with Mr. Kevin Murphy, chair, and Mr. Pat Lardner, CEO, of the Irish Funds Industry Association, IFIA, while attending the IFIA Global Funds Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel. I was there to deliver an address to the conference. The meeting with the representatives of the IFIA was a courtesy meeting and took place on the fringes of the conference. The issues discussed were of a general nature, principally concerning the economy and the financial sector. On 24 July 2013, I met with the Small Firms Association. The discussion related to its pre-budget submission, which is available on its website. Among the topics discussed were employment costs, support for SME investment and job creation, access to funding, making work attractive, balancing the budget and the local property tax.

In addition, during the months of September and October as part of the budget 2014 process, I engaged in meetings with a number of representative groups including the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation, Retail Ireland, the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, the Licensed Vintners Association, Property Industry Ireland, the Irish Farmers' Association, the Construction Industry Federation and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association. In addition to these pre-budget meetings with industry groups, I also held meetings with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Community and Voluntary Pillar, the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I note that the Minister did not include a number of financial services companies and big players in the financial markets that were detailed in an article in the Sunday Independent. He might clarify that. Does the Minister understand how frustrated many ordinary taxpayers are about the privileged access of big players and wealthy interests to the Minister for Finance and indeed the Taoiseach and Government generally while the taxpayers who are paying to bail out many of these interests have no such access? In the past few days, we were given information about the nauseating level of gouging of the taxpayers by consultants to Irish Water to the tune of €50 million, all of whom have been players on the lucrative inside track for years and have received millions of funds from taxpayers' assets. Since the Minister assumed office three years ago, did any of these companies that were named by Uisce Éireann in the past few days and that were favoured by Uisce Éireann with lucrative contracts have meetings with him and if so, what was the subject of those meetings?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Speaking from memory, I am not sure. It is not in the Deputy's question so the reply is not in my brief but if he puts down another question either for oral or written reply, I will get him the information immediately. It is unfair to come in and ask a different question entirely when I am prepared to answer the question that he put before us.

As regards meeting ordinary taxpayers and the Deputy's view that ordinary taxpayers have been much put upon and have a very onerous burden, all of us in this House agree with that. Of course, I meet ordinary taxpayers every week in my constituency. I am sure I meet as many ordinary taxpayers as any other Deputy in the House. I meet dozens of ordinary taxpayers every week all the time, as I am sure Deputies Pearse Doherty and Michael McGrath and everybody else here do. There is no lack of input about the concerns of ordinary taxpayers.

In deciding the meetings from the series of requests for meetings that I receive, I meet representatives from sectors of the economy that can help to grow the economy and give me an insight into what changes might be necessary to grow the economy and create jobs. They are the people who I principally meet. In pre-budget meetings, there are groups that have traditionally met with Ministers such the farming organisations, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the social pillar. I meet all those groups in the run-up to the budget to hear their views and concerns and see what kind of meeting of minds we might have in advance of the budget.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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As the Minister knows, it was only in the past few days that we were given any information about the lucrative contracts awarded by Uisce Éireann. I wonder if he understands the outrage among ordinary taxpayers over this rip-off to facilitate a system being put in place that will gouge more taxes to pay more bond holders through taxing the water rather than fixing the pipes with the €500 million the Minister has allocated.

I wish to ask the Minister specifically about BlackRock asset management and Fortress Investment Group, which are huge hedge funds, venture capitalists and vulture capitalists.

Did the Minister meet any of these players in the financial markets? They were players in the crisis that developed as a result of the considerable speculation carried out by such companies for the ten or 15 years before the crash. They also cleaned up during the crash. If the Minister met them, what was the subject of those meetings?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I get several requests from people for meetings, but I cannot meet everyone. I try to meet those who can make a contribution to the economy. There have been many requests for meetings from people representing various funds that want to buy property in Ireland. Normally, they meet representatives of NAMA or the banks and come from abroad. There has been a run of people coming to Dublin, particularly in the past two years, who have been interested in buying property. Sometimes, it is difficult to distinguish between the people who have money and those who have fairy stories. I meet some of them. I met BlackRock on at least one occasion, but I believe it was before 2013. Its lead man in Dublin is an ex-Cork man. That is why I remember when that particular gentleman met me.

The purpose of these meetings on the other people's side of the table is to meet the Minister and ask questions about the availability of assets. I refer them to NAMA because I do not have detailed knowledge of values or quantities. When the Houses of the Oireachtas enacted the NAMA legislation, it vested all of that responsibility in NAMA. The Minister for Finance has no role in any of the commercial decisions taken by NAMA. There is a series of requests for meetings and I try to meet what I consider to be the important ones. Sometimes I get it wrong - I meet people and, after ten minutes, it is obvious that they are not what they purported to be. I meet many people when I am out socially who would have access to billions of euro and would buy half of the town if I would only give them a hearing. I am sure that Deputies Michael McGrath and Pearse Doherty meet them as well.