Results 23,181-23,200 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Interest Rates: Interest Rates (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As I said in a reply to a question from Deputy Troy on 16 November last, the decisions financial institutions operating in Ireland make on the interest rates they charge to customers are commercial decisions for the institutions concerned. Interest rates are determined by a broad range of factors including ECB base rates, deposit rates, market funding costs, the competitive environment, and...

Written Answers — Disabled Drivers: Disabled Drivers (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and Vehicle Registration Tax (up to a certain limit), and exemption from motor tax, on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. The disability criteria for these concessions are set out in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled...

Written Answers — Information Technology: Information Technology (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: Nil response. No servers are leased by either the Department of Finance or the NTMA.

Written Answers — Information Technology: Information Technology (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: Sixty seven servers are owned by the Department of Finance1. The "capacity" of each server ranges from 1Gb to 32Gb RAM; 32Gb to 8Tb Hard Disk Drive; and 1 to 2 CPUs. The Department maintains its own servers and does not currently hold any server maintenance or support contracts with external ICT contractors. The Department has realized significant cost savings in terms of hardware and...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply. Under the VAT Directive Member States may only apply the reduced VAT rate to those goods and services which are listed under Annex III of the VAT Directive. The sale of artisan musical instruments is considered the sale of a good for VAT purposes and not the service that...

Written Answers — National Asset Management Agency: National Asset Management Agency (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: NAMA advises me that it does not employ or pay developers, whose loans have transferred to the agency, on a direct employee or on a contract basis. Each developer is responsible for ensuring that they are fully compliant as regards the payment of all taxes, PRSI or USC. NAMA only works with developers where it considers that this will provide the best return to the taxpayer. The agency...

Written Answers — Interest Rates: Interest Rates (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: Credit institutions are not primarily or always funded from the ECB, but rather from a variety of sources. Neither the Central Bank nor I, as Minister for Finance, have any statutory role in the setting of interest rates charged or paid by financial institutions regulated by the Central Bank. Based on the advice received from the Central Bank, I have no plans to recommend to Government...

Written Answers — Banks Recapitalisation: Banks Recapitalisation (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), that they assisted the European Banking Authority (EBA) in carrying out a European-wide bank solvency stress test in July 2011. The test was applied to three Irish banks in accordance with a methodology that was pre-agreed with the EBA. As a result of the significant restructuring underway in the Irish banking system at the time, the...

Written Answers — Disabled Drivers: Disabled Drivers (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The initial application for a Primary Medical Certificate under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994, is made to the Senior Medical Officer of the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area. If the Primary Medical Certificate has been refused in this case, the named person may appeal the refusal to the Disabled Drivers Medical Board...

Written Answers — Tobacco Smuggling: Tobacco Smuggling (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The penalties for cigarette smuggling are laid down in section 119, as amended, of the Finance Act 2001. That provision sets out the various actions that constitute offences of evasion or attempted evasion of excise duty, as well as the penalties, by way of a fine or imprisonment, or both, that may be imposed for such offences. Where a conviction occurs following a summary prosecution, the...

Written Answers — Tobacco Smuggling: Tobacco Smuggling (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the collection of tobacco products tax, and for tackling the illicit trade in cigarettes and tobacco products, that the tackling of this illicit trade is a high priority area. The use of detection technologies, including x-ray container scanners and other scanning machines, is just one part of a multi-faceted strategy...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, taxes are considered in the context of the Budget process. It is the usual practice for the Minister for Finance not to speculate in advance of a Budget on what it will contain; and I do not propose to deviate from that practice.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the Tobacco Products Tax on cigarettes is expressed as a fixed amount per 1,000 cigarettes, together with a percentage of the retail price at which the cigarettes are sold. Tobacco products other than cigarettes, including fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes, are taxed by reference to the weight of tobacco. When the tax rates for...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The recently appointed Special Advisor to my Department will undertake any duties which may be assigned to him from time to time as appropriate to the position of Special Adviser as set out in Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. The salary for this individual does not exceed the Government's special advisor pay scale as outlined in the Instructions regarding Ministerial...

Written Answers — Fiscal Statement: Fiscal Statement (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy should be aware that Chapter 5 of the Medium-Term Fiscal Statement sets out a range of different scenarios which show the estimated impact on the General Government balance/GDP ratio of both higher and lower nominal rates of economic growth. These are summarised in the table. General Government Balance (% of GDP) 2012 2013 2014 2015 Base Case -8.6 -7.5 -5.0 -2.9 Nominal GDP...

Written Answers — Interest Rates: Interest Rates (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, under the terms of the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008, domestic credit institutions benefiting from the State guarantee were required at the direction of the Minister for Finance to appoint up to two non-executive directors to promote the public interest. The legal position is that any director appointed to the board of the covered...

Written Answers — Interest Rates: Interest Rates (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy may be aware, this issue was the subject of a topical issues debate in the Dáil put down by his colleague Deputy Niall Collins on 15 November last. As the Deputy is aware, in an effort to recoup some of its higher input funding costs, Bank of Ireland is changing the method of calculating its interest rate on its term lending facilities from the current EURIBOR derived...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 133 together. The dual abode allowance is granted under Rule 3 of Schedule 2 of the Income Tax Act 1967 (now Section 114 of Taxes Consolidated Act 1997) and provides that where, arising out of his or her duties, a Minister (who is a member of Dáil Eireann for a constituency outside of Dublin) maintains a second residence in addition to his or her...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I have received the report of the IBF/PwC Market Profile for new lending for the quarter ending 30 September 2011. This report shows that 3,607 new mortgages to the value of 623 million euros were issued during that quarter. This represents an increase of 1.6% in the number of mortgage loans issued in the quarter compared to the previous quarter. It is the first time since the third quarter...

Written Answers — Departmental Responsibilities: Departmental Responsibilities (22 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: An organisational chart detailing the responsibilities of certain officials in my Department follows. Department of Finance: Management Chart 22nd November 2011 Minister's Office Press Office Division Senior Staff Secretary General Kevin Cardiff Senior Economic Advisor Jim O'Leary Finance & Corporate Directorate Paul Ryan Human Resource Manager Niall Ó Ceallaigh Second...