Results 20,701-20,720 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

National Asset Management Agency (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: The debt repayment goals for the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, have been set by its board and include several targets set out over three-year periods. These are a repayment of 25% of NAMA senior bonds by the end of 2013, 50% by the end of 2016, 90% by the end of 2019 and full repayment of NAMA senior bonds by the end of 2020. These targets are based on a combination of expected...

National Asset Management Agency (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: There is not really a timeline set down by NAMA's creditors or the European authorities. There are figures in the programme but there is flexibility in those. So far, NAMA has sufficient moneys to fulfil its objectives. The Deputy will recall when we needed to make a payment on a promissory note, it was cash in hand from NAMA that did it until Bank of Ireland could organise a shareholders'...

National Asset Management Agency (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: In general terms I agree with the approach suggested by the Deputy. However, the authorities which provided us with the money do not have a repayment schedule. That schedule is contained in the programme. Those to whom I refer are flexible and sensible individuals and do not want fire sales to occur.

National Asset Management Agency (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: There is another difficulty; it is important remember that we must strike a balance. So much property in Dublin, in particular, but also elsewhere throughout the country is in the hands of NAMA that unless it puts some of it on the market, there will be no market. NAMA is obliged to both create a market and then avail of it. The actions we took by means of the Finance Act have proved to be...

Financial Transactions Tax (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 9 together. The ESRI and the Central Bank of Ireland prepared a report on the financial transactions tax at my request. I circulated this report to Deputies last Monday, 2 July, and published it yesterday. I thank the bodies for their work on the report which indicates that the "net revenue gain for Ireland from the introduction of an FTT ... is likely...

Financial Transactions Tax (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: In all the discussions which have taken place to date Ireland has never opposed the principle of a financial transactions tax. However, we have pragmatic reasons for believing it might not work in all circumstances. Our first position is that if it could be introduced through the G20 at a global level, we would be in favour. Our fall-back position is that if it could be introduced across...

Financial Transactions Tax (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I will meet him on Tuesday in Brussels.

Financial Transactions Tax (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: No, I am not sure. Politics is an inexact science. We are trying to evaluate risk and we are making our best judgment on the risk. The type of financial transaction tax proposed in the European Commission paper would have a significant impact on jobs in Ireland, and particularly in Dublin. Ireland already has stamp duty, so if the Commission goes down the stamp duty route, we will see how...

Financial Services Regulation (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 10 together. There is already a comprehensive licensing system in place for moneylenders. I refer to Part VIII of the Consumer Credit Act 1995, as amended, for detailed information in this regard. Moneylenders have to apply to the Central Bank annually to have their licences renewed. Section 93 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 sets out the Central...

Financial Services Regulation (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: Enforcement can be difficult when moneylending is carried out illegally on a small scale and when the people to whom the money is lent are reluctant to come forward to assist the Garda Síochána in proceedings. There is reasonably good control and it is not out of control. A strong credit union movement is the best antidote to widespread moneylending coming in to our system.

Financial Services Regulation (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank looked at this point recently in a review of moneylending and advised against it. My reply to the question referred to the detail in the report. Deputies should table questions to the Minister for Justice and Equality on the incidence of prosecutions.

Financial Services Regulation (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: It is not for me to frame the Deputy's questions but he might ask why, in the Minister's opinion, there are not more prosecutions if, as the Deputy says, there is widespread abuse. The legal money lenders are operating within the law and there are no complaints about them coming through. The complaints we are getting are about illegal money lending. Enforcement is a justice matter but the...

Written Answers — Bank IT Systems: Bank IT Systems (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 38, 41 and 42 together. I am fully aware of the negative impact that Ulster Bank's technical problems are having on the bank's personal and business banking customers throughout the country. This issue has been ongoing for far too long at this stage and as I have made clear already, it is essential that it be resolved as a matter of absolute priority....

Written Answers — Consumer Spending: Consumer Spending (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: Consumer spending has fallen significantly in the last number of years, as household disposable income has declined and the household savings rate has increased. The latest retail sales figures confirm that spending remains weak. Having said that, excluding the motor trade, there is tentative evidence that spending is stabilizing, albeit at low levels. For instance, core retail sales have...

Written Answers — National Asset Management Agency: National Asset Management Agency (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: NAMA have advised me that there are no plans to demolish further developments but it may be considered as a means to reaching resolution on properties where; a) the economic viability of the site is otherwise in question, or b) due to structural or other considerations, the development is not viable. As the Deputy may know, there was recent media commentary on a development in Longford which...

Written Answers — National Pensions Reserve Fund: National Pensions Reserve Fund (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the National Treasury Management Agency, as Manager of the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), that the total value of the Fund at 31 March 2012 was €15.1 billion and that the value of the Discretionary Portfolio was €5.8 billion. In announcing the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) initiative in September 2011, the Government indicated a refocusing of the Fund's...

Written Answers — Tax Yield: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: To estimate the potential revenue from a wealth tax, in the sense of an annual recurring tax on wealth, one would need to identify the wealth held by individuals. I am informed by the Central Statistics Office that the CSO institutional sector accounts do not give an indication of the number of households or persons classified by the categories of wealth they hold. These statistics are...

Written Answers — European Banking Sector: European Banking Sector (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: The proposal for a banking union was first mooted by Commission President Barroso on 23 May. It has developed considerably over the last number of weeks in the context of the ongoing eurozone crisis, culminating in the paper on Economic and Monetary Union considered at last week's European Council. One of the main proposals in the paper on Economic and Monetary Union relates to an...

Written Answers — General Government Debt: General Government Debt (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 22 and 59 together. At the euro area summit on 29 June, Heads of State or Government affirmed that it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereign. After the Commission has presented proposals for a single supervisory mechanism, the European Council will consider their proposals as a matter of urgency. In addition, the Heads also...

Written Answers — European Banking Sector: European Banking Sector (5 Jul 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 39 together. The European Union, through various Directives and Regulations, currently provides for common rules to be applied by national supervisors. There is no single European supervisor although supervision is co-ordinated at a European level by the European Banking Authority. Supervision, deposit insurance and resolution are all national...