Results 8,621-8,640 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Medical Card Data (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, while not directly available from tax records, recent data exchanges between Revenue and the HSE has allowed medical card holders to be identified and linked to Revenue's taxpayer records. On this basis, for the income tax year 2012 (the most recent tax year for which data are available), the number of income earners who had a medical card is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge Yield (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 259 to 269, inclusive, together. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the breakdown of the Universal Social Charge (USC) receipts requested by the Deputy is not available. It is not possible to isolate the USC paid on certain ranges of income, nor are detailed data for 2014 available as yet. However, the Deputy may be interested to note that a wide...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that Section 960H of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (as amended) provides that where a taxpayer is due a refund of tax, the Commissioners can offset that amount in full, or in part, to satisfy outstanding liabilities in any other tax head. Any balance (of the refund) that remains after the offset is completed is repaid to the taxpayer. With specific regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the legislation governing the operation of appropriate taxon interest earned on deposits held in the State, referred to as Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT), is set out in Chapters 4 and 5 of Part 8 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (the Act). Except in the circumstances listed below, as and from the 1 January 2014 DIRT is deducted at a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Fund for Strategic Investments (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware the legislative proposal for the European Fund for Strategic Infrastructure (EFSI) was only published on 13 January last. The Working Group discussions under the Latvian Presidency commenced as recently as 19 January and matters such as the Governance arrangements for the EFSI are an important part of those discussions. At this stage given the ongoing discussion amongst...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Central Bank (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: The tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem are laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). They are specified in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. The Statute is a protocol attached to the TFEU. The Deputy refers to Article 127(2) of the TFEU which defines the basic tasks to be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Real Estate Investment Trusts (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 274 and 275 together. From inception to the end of 2014, NAMA and its debtors and receivers were involved in more than 4,000 transactions involving sales of Irish assets. These transactions yielded total sales proceeds of €5.5 billion. Under Section 202 of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA is prohibited from disclosing confidential information. Confidential...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: Where a couple is cohabiting, rather than married or in a civil partnership, each partner is treated for the purposes of income tax as a separate and unconnected individual. Because they are treated separately for tax purposes, credits and tax bands cannot be transferred from one partner to the other. Cohabitants do not have the same legal rights and obligations as a married couple or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners Investigations (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: Diesel that is used in agricultural tractors and for certain other specified purposes is subject to a lower rate of excise duty and must contain prescribed markers, including a dye which gives it a green colouration, to distinguish it from diesel that may be used in motor vehicles. It is an offence, under section 102 (1) (b) (ii) of the Finance Act 1999, to use marked diesel in a motor...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Small and Medium Enterprises Debt (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I assume the Deputy is referring to the ISME Q3 2013 survey where it was reported that 57% of companies who applied for funding were refused credit by their banks. The Deputy may be interested to note that the ISME Q4 2014 survey reports a refusal rate of 38%. The SME Credit demand survey April-September 2014 conducted by Red C on behalf of my Department is the most comprehensive survey of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Exemptions (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Government decided a universal liability to the LPT should apply to all owners of residential property with limited exemptions. Limiting the exemptions available allows the rate to be kept low for those liable persons who do not qualify for an exemption. The Local Property Tax (LPT) legislation does not contains a relief from Local Property Tax for Stamp Duty payments. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Debt Restructuring (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: My view is that when countries encounter difficulties, a process of negotiation is always better than one of conflict. Specifically in the case of euro area Member States, all programme negotiations have been conducted within the Eurogroupand Ecofin, with IMF involvement as appropriate. My view is that these are the appropriate fora for resolving outstanding issues such as this.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Debt Write-downs (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 281 and 282 together. At the end of last year, the total amount owing to Ireland under the Greek loan facility was €347 million (0.2 per cent of GDP). This arises by way of bilateral loans provided to Greece, prior to Ireland's entry into a programme in late-2010. The bulk of Greece's obligations are to the official sector, and policy over the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Cost (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: Tax relief is not available to parents in respect of crèche fees or child care costs. A relief did exist in the form of a benefit-in-kind exemption where child care facilities were provided by an employer. However, this was abolished in Finance Act 2011, following a recommendation made by the Commission on Taxation, which cited equity issues in relation to those parents whose employers...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: National Payments Plan Implementation (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: The National Payments Plan, published in April 2013, targets improving consumer payments systems, modernising business payments, promoting electronic payment methods, reducing costly cheque usage and increasing the efficiency of the use of cash. The National Payments Plan outlines that if Ireland were to match best practice in Europe, savings of up to €1 billion per annum could be made...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: In regard to the first part of the Deputy's Question, I am advised by Revenue that the total number of chargeable self-assessed Income Tax payers is set out in Table 1 below. It was not possible for Revenue to breakdown the data on a county basis in the timeframe available for responding to the Question. In regard to the second part of the Deputy's Question on the use of Attachment Orders,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (3 Feb 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the annual tax revenue collected from and tax refunds relating to RCT between 2000 and 2007 is as set out in the following table. Year RCT Gross RCT Repayments / Offsets RCT Net €m €m €m 2000 339.3 287.1 52.2 2001 422.2 365.2 57.0 2002 394.3 365.2 29.1 2003 477.0 423.7 53.3 2004 613.0...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Banking Sector (29 Jan 2015)

Michael Noonan: As per the most recent publicly available financial information, the deferred tax assets at each of the banks at 30 June 2014 were Allied Irish Banks: €4.0bn; Bank of Ireland: €1.7bn; Permanent tsb: €0.4bn.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (29 Jan 2015)

Michael Noonan: Permanent TSB has informed me that in line with standard market practice for a capital markets transaction of this nature, they have appointed a number of key financial, legal and accounting advisors to advise on significant aspects of the transaction.  These advisors are: Deutsche Bank, Davy, A&L Goodbody, Clifford Chance, Allen & Overy, KPMG and PwC. As the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Transactions (29 Jan 2015)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 57, 58, 60 and 65 together. At the outset, I want to stress that the formulation of monetary policy in the euro area both its design and implementation is a matter for the Eurosystem, which comprises the European Central Bank (ECB) and the nineteen National Central Banks of the participating Member States. Under the Treaty,...