Results 10,081-10,100 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is not working as well as we had hoped but it is working. The number of cases being processed is accelerating. There are blockages within the system. A review is incorporated in the insolvency legislation but that is about two years’ down the line. Provision has been made for it in the Act but we need a more immediate review to see whether we can remove blockages. That work is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Banking Sector (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, the taxpayer has made a very substantial investment in AIB and it is critical that we carefully examine all possibilities open to us to ensure this investment is protected and enhanced with a view to ultimately generating a return for the State. The return to profitability by AIB in the first half of 2014 is good news from the perspective of the Irish...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The answer to the Deputy’s question depends on the effective date of the policy change. If the effective date was 2014, the Minister responsible would have to provide for it within the 2014 Estimates by way of savings from elsewhere in the Votes or by way of Supplementary Estimate. If, on the other hand, the changes are with effect from some date after 1 January 2015, it is not in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: That is next year’s base.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: For the purpose of illustration I will talk through this, but the Deputy is not to tie me to the precise figures. The opening position last April was that we needed an adjustment of €2 billion to get the deficit down below 3%. That was to be divided in a proportion of 2:1, with roughly €1.3 billion from expenditure cuts and €700 million from tax increases. As the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is not so much based on the growth estimate as on the flow of taxes. Growth is tenuous because it is a projection. The bulk of what we are talking about is money already collected. It is the €970 billion in advance of budget at the end of August. That is not put in a safe. As it comes in, because it is not spent, it begins to reduce the deficit. If the Deputy looks at the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: I note the recommendations contained in the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on mortgage arrears. I understand that the Governor of the Central Bank will write to the committee shortly regarding the recommendations contained in the report. I have informed this House previously that the Government has developed a comprehensive...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: I cannot announce the budget today or give the base figures the Deputy has requested, but I will give as much information as possible. As Irish Water has been set up as a commercial semi-State company, it will not be part of the general government position; anything paid will go to it - it will not be received by the Exchequer. As the pension levy of 0.6% is not included in the budget...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: We would have to add on as much again.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: As it was introduced on a four year basis, if it was to continue, further provision would have to be made for it. I think the Deputy suggested a figure of 2%, but the latest figures I have suggest a further reduction of 1% of GDP would be the equivalent of €1.75 billion. If we went from below 3% of GDP to below 2%, a further reduction of €1.75 billion would have to be made....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: I was referring to the 0.6% figure - the major levy introduced on the basis of there being a four year cycle. There is no provision for it as a receipt in the figures.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am giving the Deputy all the information I can. He will receive the White Paper in the normal way on the Friday before the budget and it will give more precise data for the opening position. It will vary with budgetary changes that will be announced on budget day.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Government's overarching fiscal policy for 2015 continues to be delivering a budget deficit below 3% of GDP. Delivering this target will take account of the improved performance of the economy and tax revenue.  A further factor is the impact of the European system of accounts, ESA, 2010 statistical changes introduced by the European Union. Regarding taxes, cumulative tax revenue...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Deficit (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The stability programme update, SPU, published in April forecast a deficit of 4.8% of GDP for this year. However, the Deputy should be aware that there have been a number of important changes since April, most notably the performance of taxes and the impact of the European system of national and regional accounts, ESA 2010 statistical reclassification.  Cumulative tax revenue was up...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The ability of some multinationals to lower the amount of corporation tax they pay world-wide using international structures is an issue that has attracted a lot of public and media attention over the past 24 months. The G20 have acknowledged that this is a global challenge that requires global action, and this is happening through the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS')...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Social Housing Provision (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: Section 10 of the NAMA Act outlines clearly the primary objective that the legislature set for NAMA, namely that it achieves the best financial return for the State from the assets entrusted to it.  NAMA is making very significant progress by reference to this objective.  In my recent section 227 Review of NAMA, which the Deputy should be aware of, the NAMA Board have announced...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget 2015 (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Stability Programme Update published in April forecast a deficit of 4.8% of GDP for this year and 2.9% for 2015 underpinned by a consolidation package of €2.0bn.  However, the Deputy should be aware that there have been a number of important changes since April, most notably the performance of taxes and impact of the ESA2010 statistical changes introduced by Europe.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Arrears Rate (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank has advised that there is no such regulated category as 'sub-prime' lender but that phrase is sometimes used to refer to some non-deposit taking 'retail credit firms'. Retail credit firms are a regulated category of entities which are authorised to provide credit (in the form of cash loans) directly to individuals. Some firms authorised in this category are mortgage lenders....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Taxation Application (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Pyrite Panel appointed by the Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government recommended that consideration be given to providing an exemption from LPT where damage from pyritic heave had been proven by testing in accordance with a National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) standard capable of determining if there was reactive pyrite in the sub-floor hard core...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council Issues (2 Oct 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was established on a statutory basis on the 31 December 2012 under the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012. The provisions of the Act took into account the common principles proposed by the European Commission concerning the role and independence of institutions responsible at national level for monitoring observance of the rules as set out in Article 3.1 of the...