Results 5,281-5,300 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Banking Operations (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: In general terms, I support what the Deputy is doing.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I remind the Deputy of the steps I have taken to ensure the banks provide options for mortgage holders to reduce their repayments. Last May I met the six main mortgage lenders and outlined my view that the standard variable rate being charged to customers was too high. The banks agreed to review their rates and products and, by the beginning of July, to have simple options in place to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: As an opening position, I accepted the argument made in this House and elsewhere that the standard variable rates being charged by banks and mortgage lenders in Ireland were higher than the market would seem to justify. I met the banks on the basis of that argument and asked them to reduce their standard variable rates or bring forward other products that would show a reduction and give...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I do not have a role in the commercial decisions of either bank. The State owns 99.8% of AIB, vested in me, but that does not allow me to intervene in commercial decisions made by the bank. Similarly, the State's 14% stake in Bank of Ireland does not allow me to intervene in its commercial decisions. Obviously, I have a certain moral suasion role. An example of how it works was...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I have read commentary from fairly able people who argue the case as Deputy Ross has argued it. However, when I raise it with the Revenue Commissioners, I am told those theories are not correct. They tell me that the booming economy and the declining exchange rate has brought about a situation where all companies, multinational and indigenous, are trading very profitably. As a result of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Banking Operations (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, I have no statutory role in relation to decisions by financial institutions to alter or amend the range of services provided by regulated entities including in-branch cash lodgements and withdrawals. These are ultimately commercial decisions for the management team and board of each lending institution having due regard to their customers. Notwithstanding this, I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Banking Operations (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I have no role in directing the day-to-day activities of Bank of Ireland or any other bank. It is making arrangements it announced in a very customer unfriendly way. I said I thought it was unnecessary and an example of poor customer relations. It is also true to say, however, that the industry is changing. We are moving towards a cashless society. Sweden has almost gone fully cashless...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Everyone agrees this is a very difficult problem. It almost looked as if it was intractable at the start of our period in government. However, because we assessed the situation and provided a menu of possible solutions for restructuring mortgages, it has worked pretty well. A total of 120,000 mortgages have been restructured, which is well beyond the halfway point of mortgages in arrears....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The question referred specifically to performance in the month of October. Corporation tax receipts finished the month €806 million ahead of target. A negative amount of €3 million had been profiled in respect of corporation tax receipts in October 2015 because the Revenue Commissioners had forecast repayments of approximately €200 million that would have offset the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I cannot get information about particular taxpayers or particular corporations. I have no evidence or briefing to suggest that this comes largely from one source. This is very broad based. I will set out for Deputy Ross the part of my reply that I did not get to. While corporation tax receipts are concentrated in the multinational sector, it should be noted that the improvement is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Again, I thank the Deputy for his intervention. The 35% increase in mortgage lending to date this year is not only a big increase from a low base, as I indicated, at €3.4 billion, it also amounts to a good wedge of money going into mortgages. If the figure is increasing at a rate of more than 30%, it will, over a few years, return to a significant amount. The Deputy ascribes all...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: There was also considerable commentary in the newspapers suggesting we were heading straight back to a housing spiral, which would result in inflated housing prices, more people being in negative equity and another bust.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: "Housing bubble" is the phrase that is usually used in this context. Whether the Central Bank was right or wrong, there is no argument about the reasons it intervened. It did so because it feared another housing bubble which would lead to an economic collapse. My position is that it constantly collects data and is engaged in an ongoing review of the matter. If it believes the rules need...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: On the Deputy's first point, neither I nor the Department rules any question out of order. Questions are ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle on the advice of his office. The Government has made significant efforts to deal with the issue of mortgage arrears. Central Bank data for the second quarter of 2015 which were published on 2 September show just how much progress has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I fully agree that the position was little short of a disaster. The Government of the day decided that the sole engine of growth in the economy would be construction and development. It incentivised construction activity through an assortment of tax breaks. People paid too much for buy-to-let properties and domestic homes. There was no...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank of Ireland, in line with its mandate to safeguard financial stability, has put in place new macro-prudential measures for residential mortgage lending effective from last February. These measures apply proportionate loan-to-value and loan-to-income limits to mortgage lending by regulated financial service providers in the Irish market. The key objective of these measures is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: Deputy McGrath's allegation that I am not going to do anything about it suggests that he does not fully understand the statutory position of the Central Bank-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: -----and that it is independent in the exercise of its functions. These rules were introduced last February and only apply to mortgages that were sought and approved since then, so there is a limited amount of data available. The bank usually reviews these things on an ongoing basis. It is not a question of one review. It monitors the data to determine the effect of measures such as...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Cost (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: All reliefs, including property- and construction-related reliefs, are a cost to the Exchequer and I have previously set out this Government's tax policy basis in relation to any future tax expenditures. It is our intention to: - Support economic growth by ensuring that any increase in taxation be effected in the first instance by base broadening including through the elimination or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Assets Sale (18 Nov 2015)

Michael Noonan: The carrying value of NAMA loans and receivables as at 30thJune 2015 was €11.275 billion.  This comprises gross loans and receivables of €14.7 billion and loan impairments of €3.47 billion.  Further analysis on this is available in Note 14, p. 29, of NAMA's Quarterly Report and Accounts for the period to end June 2015.  These accounts are available on...