Results 3,421-3,440 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Customs and Excise Controls (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that it currently has approximately 2,000 staff countrywide engaged on activities that are dedicated to targeting and confronting non-compliance. These activities include anti-smuggling and anti-evasion, investigation and prosecution, audit, assurance checks, anti-avoidance, returns compliance and debt collection. There are currently 860 Revenue staff serving in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Living City Initiative (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Living City Initiative has been in operation for just over a year. To date, take-up of the scheme has been lower than anticipated, considering up to 100% of relevant expenditure may be tax relieved. As a result, the Government is committed to introducing changes to the Initiative to make it more effective. The recently published Programme for Partnership in Government states: "We...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Debt (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 105 together. The Deputy will already be aware that the Government attaches great importance to addressing the issue of mortgage arrears and wants to keep families in their homes and avoid repossessions insofar as possible and in that context it will today publish the Housing Action Plan setting out the implementation strategy for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: Significant progress has been made in improving Ireland's competitiveness in recent years. The latest figures from Eurostat estimated that nominal unit labour costs (a widely used measure of competitiveness internationally) in Ireland declined by 4.2 per cent annually in 2015, the largest decline across all EU Member States for which data are...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Charges (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: As I have said in my answer to the Deputy's Parliamentary Question No. 113 [7735/16] on 20 April 2016, all credit institutions in Ireland are independent commercial entities. I, as Minister for Finance, have no statutory role in relation to the charges applied by credit institutions. Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995, as amended, requires that credit institutions, prescribed...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: Member State contributions to the EU Budget are based upon a formula which includes Traditional Own Resources (customs duties), a VAT-based payment and a residual balancing component paid in accordance with each Member State's share of EU Gross National Income (GNI). Payments to the EU budget are made on a twice-monthly basis over the course of the year and Ireland became a net contributor...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) informs me that its current investment holdings in fossil fuel companies are among legacy global investments from its predecessor the National Pensions Reserve Fund. In the absence of a globally accepted definition and list of fossil fuel companies, a company-by-company analysis of the Fund's entire holdings would be necessary to determine the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has informed me that it has a close working relationship with the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources and is committed to investing in the energy sector in a manner that is consistent with the State's commitment to make the transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and sustainable economy. The ISIF investment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The most up-to-date general government debt (GGD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) ratios are set out as follows: 2014 2015 GGD (% GDP) 105.2% 78.7% GGD (% GNP) 124.4% 99.3% Source: Eurostat, CSO, Department of Finance The historical debt, GDP and GNP data included within the table is published by the Central Statistics Office...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week published national income and expenditure results for 2015. These figures indicate that real GDP grew by some 26 per cent last year. This is significantly stronger than the previous estimate of 7.8 per cent. This substantial upward revision is largely related to the activities of a small number of large multinational firms and reflects a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Reductions (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The 9% reduced VAT rate was introduced as part of the Government Jobs Initiative, for the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2013 in respect of tourism related services, including hotel and holiday accommodation; various entertainment services; the use of sporting facilities; hairdressing services; and printed matter such as maps, brochures and newspapers. The tourism sector is a key...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that the number of individuals about whom data has been provided, on request, to the Health Service Executive (HSE) under section 8 of the Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2013 is as follows: Year No. 2015 1,236,788 2016 to date 562,537 The data supplied by Revenue to the HSE reflect income details returned by self employed taxpayers in their...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Growth Rate (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: My Department will prepare a full macroeconomic projection in advance of Budget 2017 in October. Officials from my Department will then go through the normal procedural steps with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council as part of the endorsement exercise. The Budget day publication will include updated projections for economic growth, the public finances and the fiscal space, taking account...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Exchequer Savings (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Programme for Partnership Government 2016 sets out its strategy that the income tax system will not be indexed. As part of the preparations for the recent Summer Economic Statement 2016, it was estimated that a Government policy decision not to index the income tax system would contribute approximately a cumulative €2 billion to the level of fiscal space over the period...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Titles (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: In response to the Deputy's question, I have no cause at present to utilise section 6(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939 to confirm a new title for my Department.

Order of Business (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: A number of issues of great concern have arisen around the insurance industry in recent times. The first, in sequence, was the collapse of Setanta Insurance, a Maltese-registered company, which gave rise to many people being off cover. The task force addressed the issue arising from Setanta Insurance first of all. The report was presented to Government today and it will be published. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 and 162 together. I am advised by Revenue that the information requested by the Deputy as regards the comparison between Irish and United Kingdom (UK) Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates and CGT for entrepreneurs in Ireland and the UK is set out in Tables 1 and 2 respectively and personal income tax rates for the year 2016 in Ireland and the UK are set out in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, the IDA is a body under the aegis of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I have recently received that Department's pre-Budget submission.  Bi-lateral meetings between officials from my Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation have already taken place to discuss the submission in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: In Ireland, the provision of insurance through private companies has been the  norm for a long time.  This is an operational model which in general has been shown to work well and efficiently. It is acknowledged that over the last 18 months or so, there have been some difficulties with aspects of the system, particularly in relation to the availability of flood...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Relief Data (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I assume that the Deputy is enquiring about tax relief on tuition fees (including the student contribution) for which relief is available. Data relating to the tax relief for tuition fees is available on the Tax Expenditures table available on the Revenue Statistics webpage (www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/costs-expenditures.html) . This shows the estimated number of applications and...