Results 25,081-25,100 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan
- Job Protection (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I am not aware of the letter to which the Deputy refers. I would be grateful if he should provide me with a copy of it.
- Job Protection (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I have explained my position. The Deputy understands it fully. I am not directly a party to the sale. The Deputy knows how it occurred. Having met the principals in Liberty, I am confident that the jobs are secure. According to the Liberty Group's business plan, the intention is to grow and expand the company and to increase, rather than reduce, the number of jobs. That is what I was...
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 27 and 30 together. As the House is aware, the joint EU and IMF programme of financial support provides for a total financial package of â¬85 billion. Within this total amount, â¬67.5 billion comes from external sources and the remaining â¬17.5 billion comes from the State's own resources, namely the National Pensions Reserve Fund and other domestic cash...
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I did not.
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: It is not the same thing.
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: Below it.
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: It is not the college debating society. Winning the argument does not get one anywhere. We are trying to take this country from the situation it is in, where it has lost sovereignty over its economic and financial affairs. We are trying to keep people at work. We are trying to keep the health services, education services and the criminal justice system intact. We want our people to...
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: As I stated, I will put the facts before Deputy Doherty. The facts are now that we are running a balance of payments surplus, exports are at an all-time high, people are going back to work in the exporting manufacturing companies but, of course, there is not enough work there for everybody who requires it. The tourism industry is finding its feet again-----
- Government Borrowing (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: -----as a result of the reductions in VAT. We knew the visit of foreign dignitaries would give a great boost. I am saying to Deputy Doherty that he can keep knocking and keep talking it down as much as he likes, but we on this side of the House are going to try to rescue the country from the situation it was in when we came into Government and one may be with us or against us.
- Fiscal Policy (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 22 together. The joint EU-IMF programme of financial support for Ireland provides for a total financial package of â¬85 billion. Some â¬67.5 billion comes from the European funding facilities - that is the European financial stability mechanism, EFSM and the European financial Stability Facility, EFSF - bilateral loans from the UK Sweden and Denmark...
- Fiscal Policy (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I am giving the Deputy the most prudent assessment of what we are facing in terms of what must be repaid and what is available to us. I could give him a more benign estimate of the figures and say we could carry through to the end of 2013, but I want to be prudent and tell him the worst case scenario. There is no question of the sovereign side requiring additional funding in 2011 or 2012....
- Fiscal Policy (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: Theoretically the Deputy may turn out to be correct but his comments are speculative. The programme only commenced in December 2010 and we are now at the start of June 2011. We are approximately six months into the programme under two Governments. The programme under the current Government is three months old and gives us sufficient money to carry us forward for the next two years at a...
- Fiscal Policy (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I have provided in great detail the elements comprising the totals. The Deputy can run the numbers himself. In reply to Deputy Michael McGrath, I stated I was giving the most prudent assessment of where we will be by the middle of 2013. I could outline a more benign scenario. For example, we have suggested â¬20 billion for bank recapitalisation but the actual amount may be less, given...
- Fiscal Policy (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: The Irish bond rate is a little academic when the State or banks are not in the market. This is as much a reflection of what is happening in other European countries as in Ireland. The rate quoted by the Deputy is more a reflection of what happened in Portugal and what is not happening in Greece. I will give the Deputy my most honest answer. It will be worth our going back into the...
- Tax Code (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: The Deputy appears to be suggesting the imposition of a type of wealth tax. Asset values increase and decrease over time. In the context of current economic circumstances, they have declined considerably in many cases, notwithstanding the recovery in the value of net financial assets referred to by the Deputy. If the value of an asset or of an individual's wealth is measured at a...
- Tax Code (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: An asset tax is in effect a wealth tax. We currently have in place two wealth taxes. Normally, wealthy people are taxed when they gift some of their assets to their children or when they die and their children inherit their assets. There are two forms of tax, which run at 25%, which is considerable. Naturally, we will consider every tax coming up to budget time. So many taxes are...
- Tax Code (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: As I said, while we will consider all options, an asset tax is not one we are considering at present. Many other taxes are mooted in the memorandum of understanding, certainly enough to keep us going between now and budget time.
- EU-IMF Agreement (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: The Heads of State or Government of the euro area decided on 11 March last that the "pricing of the EFSF loans should be lowered to better take into account debt sustainability of the recipient countries, while remaining above the funding costs of the facility, with an adequate mark up for risk, and in line with IMF pricing principles" - that is the text of the communique following the...
- EU-IMF Agreement (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: The Deputy is familiar with the situation. The European Commission has stated publicly that it is in favour of the reduction in the interest rate applying to Ireland, the IMF has stated publicly, through its acting director, Mr. John Lipsky, that the reduction should apply to Ireland and the OECD has stated that the reduction should apply to Ireland. However, the decision is made at the...
- EU-IMF Agreement (7 Jun 2011)
Michael Noonan: I do not believe the Deputy's figures are correct. The concession, or arrangement, is that the reductions for Greece and Portugal did not apply to money already drawn down - only to that going forward. Therefore, the Deputy's figures are much greater than that for the actual available reductions. This matter is always on the agenda. We have negotiated a position in which we have the...