Results 9,461-9,480 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Staff Data (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: There are 294.02 paid staff within the Department of Finance.  Staff in the Department hold qualifications at Certificate, Diploma/Higher Diploma, Degree, Masters, PhD, Other and Professional levels.  'Other' includes but is not limited to Degrees and Masters in other disciplines, such as Engineering, Sciences, Management, IT, Marketing and Arts. Some members of staff have more...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Irish Water Administration (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: For statistical purposes, following discussion with the CSO, the start date for Irish Water was taken to be 1st October 2014. As a result the €240m was not treated as equity and no shares have been issued so there has been no effect on the shareholdings of the existing shareholders. In general EUROSTAT will look on Irish Water as a whole and not at individual transactions. Once...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The total receipts collected under the Universal Social Charge (USC) are listed in the table below. It is important to take into account that these figures are based on end of year outturns and are on a Revenue net receipts basis. These can differ slightly from Exchequer receipts for reasons of accounting and timing. - 2011 2012 2013 USC Net Receipts (€m) 3,114 3,790 3,930 The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Banking Sector (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The value of the State's remaining investments in AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent tsb is as follows: Bank Investment Valuation Ownership Source Allied Irish Banks Equity €6.5bn 99.8% NPRF (end 2013) Preference Shares €3.5bn NPRF (end 2013) Contingent capital (CoCo) €1.6bn Par redemption value Bank of Ireland Equity c€1.3bn c14% Irish Stock Exchange -...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banks Recapitalisation (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The strong performance recorded by AIB in the ECB stress tests and reflected in the bank's recent trading statement represent important milestones and validation that the bank is well capitalised. This will allow my officials to move to the next phase of crafting our plans to return some of the large investments made between 2009 and 2011 to the taxpayer. In this regard it is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Personal Insolvency Act (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that it is fully committed to being an active participant in personal insolvency solutions providing there is honest and open engagement by the parties involved. Revenue has confirmed to me that it has received 85 formal requests to participate in the various personal insolvency options to date. Of these, Revenue has agreed to participate in 42 cases, has declined...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Staff Rehiring (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I wish to inform the Deputy that there are no staff on the Department's payroll that are drawing down retirement pensions from the public sector or civil service.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Household Charge Collection (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that with effect from 1 July 2013, Section 156 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) converted all arrears of Household Charge (HHC) to Local Property Tax (LPT), increased any outstanding liabilities to €200 and made Revenue responsible for their collection. Revenue does not have any discretion in regard to the amount that must be paid and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Renovation Incentive Scheme Administration (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: As I informed the Deputy in a PQ response on 3 November 2014, the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) came into operation on 25 October 2013 and will run until 31 December 2015.  The incentive provides tax relief for homeowners by way of a tax credit at 13.5% of qualifying expenditure incurred on repair, renovation or improvement work carried out on a principal private residence. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Irish Water Funding (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is proposed that the Minister for Finance will subscribe for a Convertible Debt Instrument issued by Irish Water in an amount of €54 million. The Convertible Debt Instrument will be redeemable in a term of two years or can at the discretion of the Minister for Finance be converted into shares in Irish Water. These shares would, of course, be held by the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (18 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: Tax Code (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is the overall name for both gift and inheritance tax. For the purposes of CAT, the position is that the relationship between the person who provides the gift or inheritance (i.e the disponer) and the person who receives the gift or inheritance (i.e the beneficiary) determines the maximum tax-free threshold known as the Group threshold below which gift or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Debt Restructuring (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Where the purchaser of a loan book is not a regulated entity in Ireland, the purchaser may voluntarily apply the consumer protection codes when managing the loan books. Of course, voluntary compliance is not enforceable and ultimately it is the aim of this Government to ensure the same protections are available for all consumers whose loans have been sold. In order to protect...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 187 together. Although not specifically related to separated persons, I assume that the Deputy's question refers to the replacing of the One-Parent Family Tax Credit with the Single Person Child Carer Credit from 1 January 2014.  The new credit is more targeted in that it is, in the first instance, only available to the principal carer of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: At the outset, I must confirm to the Deputy that 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...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Personal Debt (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Government has developed a comprehensive cross-Departmental strategy in response to the difficulties posed by excessive personal indebtedness. A number of key measures have been advanced in this regard, including: 1. Significant reforms to personal insolvency legislation and the establishment of the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI), to provide more accessible and flexible statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Payments (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the person in question is currently registered for Value-Added Tax.  As VAT is a self-assessment tax, the obligation is always on the taxpayer to self-assess his liability.  At this current time, no VAT returns have been filed in respect of any periods after 1 May 2012, and therefore Revenue is not in a position to state the amount of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Application (18 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I introduced a measure of relief in this year's Finance Bill to cater for small shareholders who in February last unintentionally made the incorrect choice in responding to the Vodafone return of value document as a result of which they could have an income tax liability as opposed to having no capital gains tax liability. The measure being introduced treats individual shareholders who...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Staff Recruitment (13 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I wish to inform the Deputy that at the request of the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC), the post was openly advertised by PAS on 28 October 2011 in the Irish Times and closed on 24 November 2011.  1,700 job alerts were sent from to people with a registered interest in this area.  The field was strengthened through executive search procedures within PAS and with the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Deposit Interest Rates (13 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: In recent years the DIRT rate has been increased to raise additional revenue, and  all deposit interest is now liable to DIRT at a rate of 41%. Previous DIRT rates were below the higher rate of income tax, and this, in effect, incentivised saving.  The decision to raise the rate of DIRT was taken to encourage spending in the economy with a view to...