Results 25,461-25,480 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Euro Plus Pact (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: I do not think the Deputy and I will have a fruitful interchange because our philosophic positions are diametrically opposed. The European Union is good. In general I agree with the policies being pursued and believe the future of our citizens lies in being at the heart of the European Union. I am not alone in thinking this. The Deputy will have noticed that when the socialist experiment...

Euro Plus Pact (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy has introduced a different set of issues. The pact has four objectives. It wants to foster competitiveness; I see nothing wrong with that from a citizen's point of view or from the economy's point of view. As its second objective it wants to foster employment; I do not see any problem with that. Does anyone in the House see a problem with that?

Euro Plus Pact (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The third objective is that the pact will contribute further to the sustainability of the public finances. Every time Deputy Doherty gets up to speak he lectures me on sustainability so I cannot see how he could have any problem with that objective of the pact. The fourth objective of the pact is to reinforce financial stability. I cannot see why everyone in this House cannot sign up to the...

Euro Plus Pact (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: Achieving them might be a harder day's work but as objectives they should be fine by all of us.

Bank Guarantee Scheme (3 May 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...

Bank Guarantee Scheme (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The primary duty and responsibility of the public interest directors as well as all the other directors are to ensure that the institution on whose board they serve is run properly and appropriately. Their primary responsibility, regardless of their title, is to the institution on whose board they serve. Is Dick Spring a suitable person to be the director of a board in the public interest...

Bank Guarantee Scheme (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: He is well fit to be a member of the board. Have I called in public interest directors and talked to them separately? No, because it would be inappropriate for me to do so. They do not report to the Minister for Finance or to the Department of Finance. Their responsibility under company law is to the institution on whose board they serve. I work with these covered institutions through...

Bank Guarantee Scheme (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: My predecessor appointed all the public interest directors and he had the same relationship with them as I have. Their job under company law is to bear in mind the interest of the institution on whose boards they serve. That is their priority, but there is no reporting back. When they are considering a particular issue at board level, as well as making the decision in the interest of the...

Fiscal Policy (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The State's debt burden has increased substantially over the last number of years as a result of the significant deterioration in our public finances, owing to the economic downturn and the significant level of State support provided to the banking sector. A gross general Government debt level of €148 billion or 96% of GDP, as it is estimated to have been at the end of 2010, is very high...

Fiscal Policy (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy is correct that the level of growth in the economy is a very important component of whether the debt continues to be manageable but equally important is the size of the debt and the interest rate charged on the debt. It is a combination of three inputs. On the growth rates projected in the stability programme update put before the Houses of the Oireachtas last Friday, the Deputy...

Fiscal Policy (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy is correct. All these matters are estimates and projections, and they are the best possible estimate based on the facts, but things are changing rapidly. Things are changing rapidly internationally and therefore it is not possible to predict; but to get back to the Deputy's original question on sustainability, I believe our position is now sustainable. Some people make false...

Banking Sector (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank of Ireland published the findings of its review of remuneration policies and practices in a number of Irish retail banks on its website on 1 December 2010. The review assessed whether banks have changed how they remunerate employees, particularly those in senior executive positions, to reflect incoming regulatory standards and the lessons of the financial crisis. In...

Banking Sector (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy has put many questions together, but they are all legitimate and fair. The former CEO of AIB had been discharged by the bank and received his severance package in November 2010 in the lifetime of the previous Government, so there was nothing this Government could do about it. We have done our best to find out the full facts of how the remuneration package was built up. While I...

Banking Sector (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: In general terms I share the Deputy's sentiments but I will not make a commitment to the House unless I know that, as Minister, I can legally fulfil it. I am examining various approaches. If one follows the Deputy's initial remarks to their logical conclusion, concerning those who blatantly do not fulfil their contracts, then there is an argument to be made that they should be subject to...

Departmental Officials' Remuneration (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: In my Department over the past three years, the following are the highest paid officials in the Department of Finance, in addition to officials in the newly established Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Grade Current Salary€ Secretary General, Department of Finance 228,466(salary on retirement – January 2010) Secretary General, Department of Finance 228,466 Secretary...

Departmental Officials' Remuneration (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: I understand that there have been Secretaries General on a finance scale, which also applied to Secretaries General of the Department of Taoiseach, and that was higher than the rate paid to other Secretaries General. However, bonuses have not been paid to these civil servants for several years. I am trying to find the reference but no bonuses have been paid.

Departmental Officials' Remuneration (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The salary levels in the Department, according to the Department, reflect the grading structure of the Department, which, in turn, reflects the evolution of the Department over time. The structure of the Department represents the amalgamation of three separate Departments at various stages - finance, public service and economic planning and development. The structure also reflects the...

Departmental Officials' Remuneration (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: I do not agree that they have prime responsibility for the economic collapse. All the reports into the economic collapse apportion blame across sectors from the leading politicians to the leading bankers, developers, media commentators and civil servants. There is a fair burden of blame. I do not want to remind the Deputy of what he wrote in 2004 and 2005.

Departmental Officials' Remuneration (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: Was Deputy Ross not the man who was promoting the candidacy of Sean FitzPatrick for the board of the Central Bank?

Fiscal Policy (3 May 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Government is strongly committed to implementing a jobs and growth strategy. We intend announcing a jobs initiative as committed to in the programme for Government on 10 May. I anticipate that necessary legislation to give effect to the measures outlined in the jobs initiative will be published shortly thereafter. The programme for Government sets out in broad terms the measures that...