Results 2,101-2,120 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that an application for tax relief under the Drivers and Passengers with Disabilities Scheme was received by them, in respect of a car to be used for the transport of the person concerned. To qualify for relief as a passenger with a disability, the car must either be purchased by the passenger or by a family member of that person. The application in this instance was...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111 to 113, inclusive, together. I am informed by Revenue that Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) are charged on new cars. The rate of VRT charged on passenger cars is based on the level of CO2emissions of the vehicle. The tax take on new cars as shown in the following table is based on the average open market selling price in each of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Irish resident seafarers are subject to tax in this State under Schedule E and the PAYE system of tax deduction applies to their income. Section 472B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for an annual income tax allowance of €6,350 for seafarers who satisfy certain conditions. This is in addition to the standard tax credits that are generally available. The seafarers'...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Regulations (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: All euro area Member States are required to submit their draft budgetary plans for the coming year to the European Commission by mid-October (Member States in a programme are exempt from this process). This is required under Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: My Department been to the fore in terms of producing and funding relevant analysis on the Irish economic and budgetary impact of 'Brexit'. Outputs include a scoping study produced by the ESRI last year under our joint research programme, initial short-term (i.e. for next year) estimates published in the Summer Economic Statement, an analysis of the possible sectoral and regional...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Exemptions (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Small Benefits Exemption provides that, in general, where an employer provides an employee/director with a small benefit (that is, a benefit with a value not exceeding €500, PAYE, USC and PRSI need not be applied to that benefit. This treatment does not apply to cash payments, which are taxable in full. No more than one such benefit given to an employee in a tax year will qualify...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 120 together. The Deputy will be aware from previous PQ responses that the Government attaches great importance to the resolution of mortgage arrears and wants to keep families in their homes and avoid repossessions in so far as possible and he will also be aware of the recent establishment of the Abhaile mortgage arrears resolution service to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Significant progress has been made in recent years in improving Ireland's competitiveness. The latest figures from the Central Bank of Ireland, show that Ireland's real harmonised competitiveness indicator (a widely used measure of competitiveness in Europe) has improved by over 20 per cent between its peak in 2008 and September 2016. The gains in Irish competitiveness achieved since...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Residential Property Prices Register (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: According to the Central Statistics Office's Residential Property Price Index, national property prices increased by 1.6 per cent between July and August and by 7.2 per cent on an annual basis. This overall trend has been driven by price developments outside of Dublin, where residential property prices have increased by 1.8 per cent over the month and by 11.4 per cent on an annual basis. In...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Budget 2017, which I presented last month, sets a general government deficit target of 0.4 per cent of GDP for 2017, following the projected deficit of 0.9 per cent of GDP this year. This will keep us on course to achieve our medium term target of a balanced budget in structural terms, defined as a structural deficit of 0.5 per cent of GDP, in 2018. It should be noted these calculations...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Availability (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Government policy is focused on ensuring that all viable SMEs have access to an appropriate supply of credit from a diverse range of bank and non-bank sources. In this regard the Government has developed a number of initiatives to ensure that the supply of credit in the market is sufficient to meet the existing and future needs of SMEs. A key objective of the Strategic Banking...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Deposit Interest Rates (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) at the rate of 41% is currently deducted from interest earned on most relevant deposits.  I am reducing the rate of DIRT in the Finance Bill to 39% with effect from 1 January 2017.  This will be the first of four planned decreases which will see the DIRT rate reduced from 41% to 33% by 2020. Relevant deposits are all...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Household Savings Rate (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank has informed me that the Quarterly Financial Accounts published by the Central Bank provide the most comprehensive and timely statistics on household savings. According to the Q1 2016 release, household investment in deposits has been positive for eight consecutive quarters. Net investment by households in deposits amounted to €0.8 billion in the most recent...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget Deficit (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The annual general government balance (GGB) is produced by the CSO and published as part of the Government Finance Statistics (GFS)  (available on the CSO website at  ) In the following table the Deputy can see the movement of the GGB for the period 2011-2016Q2 as published in the GFS and the Government Income and Expenditure (GIE) Release from...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: GDP-GNP Levels (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The appropriate comparator for examining relative wage trends on a cross-country basis is real compensation per employee. This equates to nominal wages adjusted for price levels using the GDP deflator. On the basis of this, data from the European Commission's AMECO database confirms that Ireland continues to rank above both the euro area and the wider EU average. In 2015, real compensation...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: House Prices (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The recovery in the economy and the pickup in employment over the last number of years has led to strong growth in the demand for housing. The lack of a sufficient supply response to meet this demand has led to the current pressures in the housing market and requires structural measures to tackle the outstanding bottlenecks which continue to inhibit supply. This Government is committed to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Exemptions (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The supply of gymnastic lessons to children and young people is exempt from VAT, provided the lessons in question are provided as part of a programme that meets the standards set out by the Department of Education and Science in the school syllabus for primary or secondary level schools. Any person providing such a programme should contact their local Revenue District to clarify if it...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Haulage Industry (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: At the outset, it should be noted that in my role as Minister for Finance I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. However, neither I nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by insurance companies...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The recent work carried out by my Department and the ESRI to 'Model the Medium to Long Term Potential Macroeconomic Impact of Brexit on Ireland' that was published on 7 November 2016, will be an important input to ensuring that Ireland's interests are protected in the upcoming negotiations at EU level.  Within the analysis of the paper and in line with existing...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Loan Books Purchasers (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 was enacted in July 2015 in order to ensure that borrowers, including SMEs, maintained regulatory protections when their loans were sold on to third parties. It was introduced to fill a consumer protection gap that existed where loans were sold by the original lender to an unregulated firm. The 2015 Act...