Results 22,301-22,320 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Economic and Monetary Union: Economic and Monetary Union (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 202 together. The Deputy will be aware that there is already provision in the EU Treaties that Member States regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern. In practice, this means that Member States policies should adhere to certain guiding principles as set out in various processes, including National Reform Plans, the EU2020 and the...

Written Answers — Financial Transactions Tax: Financial Transactions Tax (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The French Government is proposing to introduce a tax on financial transactions from August this year, although at first glance the French proposal does not seem to be as wide as the EU Commission's proposed Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). It is more akin to our existing Stamp Duty on share transactions. The French proposal does not cover trading in sovereign and private sector bonds and...

Written Answers — EU Treaties: EU Treaties (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: One of the key objectives of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union is to ensure that the public finances in participating Member States remain on a sustainable path in order to safeguard the stability of the euro area and the EU as a whole. Within a monetary union, the scope for spillovers from inappropriate policies in one participating...

Written Answers — Banking Sector Regulation: Banking Sector Regulation (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: As I have indicated I am committed to reviewing the approach to the Promissory notes with a view to reducing the overall cost to the State of correcting the banking system. The Troika have agreed to engage in a process with Irish Officials to produce a common paper which will consider options for re-engineering the notes in terms of the maturity of the notes, the interest rate, the cash flows...

Written Answers — EU Treaties: EU Treaties (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The preamble to the Inter-Governmental Treaty agreed by Heads of State or Government on 30 January stresses the importance of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Treaty as an element of strengthening the Economic and Monetary Union. It also states that the granting of new assistance from the ESM will be conditional, from 1 March 2013, on ratification of the Inter-Governmental Treaty. The...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (21 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: In response to the Deputy's question the following state boards and commissions fall under the remit of my Department. The National Treasury Management Advisory Committee, National Pension Reserve Fund Commission, National Assets Management Agency, National Development Finance Agency, State Claims Agency, Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, Credit Union Advisory Committee and Commission on Credit...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The matter raised by the Deputy is a regulatory matter which does not fall within my remit as Minister for Finance. I am advised by the Central Bank that the matter referred to by the Deputy dates back to 1995 when credit unions were under the responsibility of the Registrar of Friendly Societies and not the Central Bank of Ireland. The Central Bank further advises that the matters raised...

Written Answers — Mortgage Repayments: Mortgage Repayments (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 70 together. I am conscious of the difficult situation that the residents of Priory Hall find themselves in. The lending institutions in Ireland, including those in which the State has a significant shareholding, are independent commercial entities. A mortgage agreement is a contract which cannot be altered without the consent of the parties. I, as...

Written Answers — Tax Reliefs: Tax Reliefs (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the cost to the Exchequer of income tax relief for the rent a room scheme for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009, the latest year for which the necessary detailed statistical information is available, is as follows: Tax Year Cost €m 2007 4.7 2008 5.6 2009 5.6

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that income from patent royalties is normally received in the form of a license fee from licensing out the patent and that, for companies, such income is generally taxed at the higher corporation tax rate of 25%, while resident individual taxpayers are liable to tax at their marginal rate of tax in respect of such income. However, it is possible to...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The Office of the Revenue Commissioners is the main source of statistics and data on tax incentives and expenditure. They provide costs of tax credits, allowances and reliefs in their Annual Statistical Reports. The most recent figures related to tax expenditures appear in the 2009 report, which sets out the total identifiable costs to the Exchequer of all income tax and corporation tax...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: There is currently no tax based on sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxide emissions. The Deputy may wish to note that a carbon tax was introduced in respect of fossil fuels and was increased from €15 per tonne to €20 per tonne with effect from 7 December 2011 in respect of auto-fuels and from 1 May 2012 in respect of non-auto mineral oils and natural gas. The carbon tax in respect of solid...

Written Answers — Tax Reliefs: Tax Reliefs (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The position is as I stated in my Budget day speech, that the Government has now fulfilled its commitment contained in the Programme for Government to increase the rate of mortgage interest relief to 30 per cent for first-time buyers who took out their first mortgage in the period 2004 to 2008. I have sought to be as flexible as possible within the constraints pertaining. Under the current...

Written Answers — Tax Reliefs: Tax Reliefs (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware that the number one priority of the Government is jobs. The Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) is designed to help attract key individuals to the Irish based operations of their employers. It is hoped that additional foreign direct investment and additional jobs will result from the introduction of SARP. In addition to SARP, other measures introduced in...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: In the time allowed it is not possible to provide a detailed response to the Deputy. However, details in respect of my Department are outlined as follows: Department Band Number of Employees D/FIN 0-10K 59 D/FIN 10-20K 13 D/FIN 20-30K 45 D/FIN 30-40K 67 D/FIN 40-50K 36 D/FIN 50-60K 38 D/FIN 60-70K 11 D/FIN 70-80K 15 D/FIN 80-90K 38 D/FIN 90-100K 9 D/FIN 100-115K 7 D/FIN...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware that Ireland has the highest prices and excise duty levels for cigarettes in the EU and already applies a high specific duty element and a low ad valorum element in setting its excise duty for cigarettes relative to other Member States. However the question of re-balancing the excise tax structure will be examined in the context of the 2012 Finance Bill.

Written Answers — Tax Reliefs: Tax Reliefs (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: The position is as I stated in my Budget day speech, that the Government has now fulfilled its commitment contained in the Programme for Government to increase the rate of Mortgage Interest Relief to 30 per cent for first-time buyers who took out their first mortgage in the period 2004 to 2008. I have sought to be as flexible as possible within the constraints pertaining. The increased rate...

Financial Services Regulation (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The issue the House is debating is whether a financial service provider which has been found by the Financial Services Ombudsman to have acted in an unfair manner should be named. This issue is the subject of discussions between the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Department of Finance. Before I talk about these discussions I would...

Financial Services Regulation (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: On 5 January 2012 the Financial Services Ombudsman wrote to my Department. He referred to several of the submissions in which concern was expressed about how information on the complaints record of financial service providers might be presented. Assurances were sought that the information would be presented in a manner that was verifiable, robust, properly contextualised and not misleading....

Finance Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Feb 2012)

Michael Noonan: I thank those Members who contributed to this debate. Committee Stage will allow us to examine all the Bill's details over several days. It is somewhat depressing during a debate on a finance Bill to have Opposition spokespersons, one after another, not contribute a single new idea to resolving the country's economic problems. The Fianna Fáil-Sinn Féin Opposition is negative. We know...