Results 9,181-9,200 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: 1,780.

Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Could I have an opportunity to reply to the allegations made?

Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I understood that the Deputy's position on equality is that all women are created equal and that all men are created equal and that we should ensure under our laws that men and women are created equally as well. I did not understand that he had a more restricted definition of equality where only those subgroups selected by Sinn Féin are to be treated equally and it is not a general...

Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I already dealt fully with Deputy Pearse Doherty's amendment and stated I am not accepting it on this occasion. As I mentioned, one of the reasons I brought forward this issue is that the ESRI recently published a gender analysis of the budgets from 2009 to 2013, inclusive. This analysis, which was funded by the Equality Authority, was exploratory and required significant resources to...

Finance Bill 2014: Order for Report Stage (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Finance Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I thank Deputy Pearse Doherty for tabling this amendment. In the debate on Committee Stage, I indicated that a substantial amount of analysis governing some of the groups the Deputy mentioned has been already published by the Department of Finance, or is due to be published in the coming months by Departments and other organisations. As such, I will avoid covering this ground again. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Taxation Collection (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I note that in the details supplied by the Deputy the individual concerned has asked why there are no concessions for the elderly when paying the Local Property Tax (LPT).  The Government decided that a liability to the LPT should apply to all owners of residential properties with a limited number of exemptions.  As a matter of Government policy, and in order to keep the rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I understand the Deputy to be referring to the Travel Pass/Taxsaver commuter ticket scheme.  The scheme operates on the basis that an employer pays for the ticket on behalf of an employee, typically at the start of the year, and the payment is then deducted from the employee's emoluments over the course of the year.  The incentive operates on the basis that, although such a payment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: National Pensions Reserve Fund Investments (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: In July 2013, in order to meet expected costs arising, Irish Water entered into a €250m bridging loan facility with the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission (NPRF), which is repayable in September 2015.  This facility was part drawn at the end of 2013 and was fully drawn down during 2014.  Earlier this month, the NPRF agreed to increase the amount available under...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware that I announced on Budget Day that it was my intention to launch a public consultation in the coming months on this issue. There is a view that owners of zoned and serviced land are waiting for higher prices and that is why they are not taking steps to develop their land or sell it to others who will. If this turns out to be a valid point of view,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Regulation (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank has informed me that all alleged instances of unauthorised activity that come to the attention of the Central Bank are investigated in full and appropriate action is taken where necessary. The Central Bank does not comment on any individual investigations.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I can confirm for the Deputy that I am aware of the net interest margin being generated from variable rate mortgages at the banks including the discussions that were had in this regard at the recent meetings of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform with the banks' CEOs.  At the Committee the banks pointed out that in comparing the SVR mortgage...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Exemptions (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality it cannot comment on the tax affairs of individual bodies. However, Revenue has informed me that in order to avail of a charitable tax exemption, a body or trust must be established for charitable purposes only and must apply all of its income in that regard. Revenue has also confirmed to me that it has procedures in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: In April 2013 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the excise relief element of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme is incompatible with the EU Energy Tax Directive. My Department has informed the European Commission of my intention to remove the excise relief element of the Scheme at the end of 2014 and replace it with a fuel grant in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners Resources (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: From the week commencing Monday 17th November 2014, Revenue's 1890 Stamp Duty phone service has been reduced to a Tuesday to Thursday, 10am to 1pm, service. The revised service hours form part of an overall review of customer service to Stamp Duty customers and follows on from Revenue's engagement with the primary users of the phone service, namely, the legal profession. The changes to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Single Person Child Carer Credit is, in the first instance, only available to the primary carer of the child. Agreement as to who will be the primary carer of a child is a matter for the parents or guardians. In circumstances where the primary carer cannot utilise the credit for example, because of insufficient taxable income - the primary carer may...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the details supplied by the named individual are sufficient to enable a tax refund to be made to that person. I am further informed that a refund was recently made to the named individual.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: On the issue more generally, the lending institutions in Ireland - including those in which the State has a shareholding - are independent commercial entities. I have no statutory role in relation to regulated financial institutions passing on the European Central Bank interest rate change or in relation to the mortgage interest rates charged.  It is a commercial matter...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Renovation Incentive Scheme Eligibility (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, I introduced the Home Renovation Incentive in Finance (No. 2) Act 2013. The aim of the incentive is to support tax compliant building contractors by moving activity out of the shadow economy into the legitimate economy. I have also extended the scheme in the recent Budget to include owners of rental properties who are subject to income tax. The incentive provides tax...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (25 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the practice of sub-contracting operates in a number of sectors.  Data on the overall numbers, however, is not available as a sub-contractor will not generally describe him/herself as such when registering with Revenue.  However, three specific sectors are covered by the Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) regime, namely, construction,...