Results 4,341-4,360 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Is the arrangement still in place in local authorities where builders can give money instead of an allocation of houses? Is that gone?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: It is gone completely. The Deputy asked about the Living City initiative and how long one has to stay in the house. The tax break is over ten years. If one purchases and refurbishes the house at a cost of €100,000, one can write it off against tax at €10,000 a year for ten years. There is no obligation to stay but if one moves, one will lose one's benefit. The tendency,...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: That is the job of the Revenue Commissioners. On a point of clarification, the Part V provision is only 10% as it was reduced from the original 20% provided for in the Planning and Development Act in order to reduce construction costs. I said 20%, but that was the historic figure.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: There are so many questions there I had better reply to them.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: I welcome Deputy Quinlivan. It is nice to see a fellow Limerick man on this committee. When I referred to the issue relating to Limerick being of a lesser magnitude than that which relates to Dublin, I was not talking about the local authority lists for social housing. I was specifically talking about homelessness. I think the Deputy would agree that while there is a homelessness problem...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes. First, in reply to Deputy Catherine Byrne's questions, NAMA identified by the end of March 2016 some 6,637 houses that it could transfer to local authorities. The local authorities confirmed that they had demand for 2,540 of these houses and 2,042 were delivered by the end of March. There are approximately 500 that are not yet delivered but they are agreed by both sides as suitable...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy. It is always good to hear his views on housing, given his expertise in construction. He said affordability was the issue rather than supply. However, affordability is a function of supply. If the supply of any good increases, the price tends to decrease. If the supply decreases, the price tends to increase. If supply was to increase, the price would either stabilise...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Therefore, we are just about at the figure of 4%. There is a big advantage in staying within the fiscal rules, but they are giving us some flexibility also. I will be advising, through the Department of Finance, if I am back in it, that we use the rules cautiously and carefully in order that we can keep growing the economy at well above the average figure and then use the fruits of that...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: I would say first of all that the Deputy is right. Secondly, I would say to him that I never promised the Government would be able to fix in five years what went wrong because the country was on the verge of falling over a cliff. If one considers Greece, which got into trouble seven years ago, it is still in dreadful trouble. There is no sign of a correction in Greece at the moment because...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: We will take the findings into account in the formation of policy.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Out of respect for the Chairman - I am sure Deputy Ruth Coppinger will not object - I will answer his questions first. Yes, I will ask my officials to get the details of the French scheme with the European Investment Bank. My former private secretary, Mr. John Moran, whom the Chairman will have known, is still on the board of the European Investment Bank and is the source of my...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Regarding the underspend by local authorities, I often say I only collect money. It was my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform who spent it. Again, it is something I have heard in the system, but we can check. There is the idea that young couples should be assisted financially in putting...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: In fact, my first sentence was: "I thank committee members for inviting me to discuss the important challenges this country must address as regards housing and homelessness." In the rest of my speech I developed that point. The Deputy also referred to the paragraph in which I said: "Unless addressed, it could pose a serious threat to the competitiveness of the economy." She interpreted...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: When the Deputy was quoting the competitiveness sentence, in fairness she should have quoted the next sentence also in which I talked about the issues of homelessness and housing supply giving rise to major social issues, including rising homelessness. I make that point in case anyone listening to us misunderstands what I am saying. Deputy Coppinger subsequently asked a series of...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Vulture funds must comply with the law in exactly the same way as any other owners of loan books. The same protections apply to the mortgage holders or tenants under the new arrangement as applied under the old arrangement. That is the inhibition on them. The argument I am making is that the transfer to new ownership does not disadvantage or give new rights to vulture funds. They has the...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: It is outlawed already, so that is not the issue. It is outlawed, because it is a criminal act to evade tax. Making sure people comply is the issue, not the need to legally outlaw the practice.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: The other side of this is that if a bricklayer who is employing two further bricklayers and contracting them in to do the brick work or block work on a building is probably a legitimate sub-contractor and is entitled to be taxed as a sub-contractor.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Finance (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: If that is the case, the Deputy should bring the issue up with Revenue and give it the information on it.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Relief Availability (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Tax relief in respect of health expenses is provided for in section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Section 469 defines "health expenses" to mean "expenses in respect of the provision of health care [including] the services of a practitioner".  A practitioner is defined in the section as "any person who is (a) registered in the register established under section 43 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Household Debt Statistics (5 May 2016)

Michael Noonan: Firstly, I would highlight that people in debt or in danger of getting into debt can avail of the services of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). This is a national, free, confidential and independent service. MABS has offices throughout the State.I would strongly suggest that anyone with debt or budgeting difficulties should approach their local MABS Office with a view to...