Results 23,581-23,600 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: Member State contributions to the EU Budget are based upon a formula which includes Traditional Own Resources (customs duties), a VAT-based payment and a residual balancing component paid in accordance with each Member State's share of EU Gross National Income (GNI). On 12 July 2016, the CSO released updated National Income and Expenditure (NIE) Accounts for 2015 which included a very...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: General Government Debt (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The growth rate in 2015 was exceptional in nature, and reflects the impact of a small number of large multinational firms. Alternative measures of growth, such as increases in consumer spending, tax revenue and employment gains clearly demonstrate that the economy is growing at a solid rate of around 4-5 per cent this year.  These, and other indicators, are consistent with an...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Exchequer Returns (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue) that the updates to tax payments by the aircraft leasing industry for the years 2014 and 2015 are as shown in the following table. I am further advised by Revenue that it is not possible to identify with accuracy the tax payments made by the overall aircraft leasing industry. However, the following table sets out the tax...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Public Sector Staff Data (19 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I understand that the information on the number of staff who entered the civil service post 1 January 2011, including staff that joined the Department of Finance and other bodies staffed by Civil Servants under the aegis of the Department is being replied to by the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform. A number of other bodies under the aegis of my Department were...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am aware that a number of sectors in the economy, including the taxi sector, have reported receiving much increased quotes for insurance cover. As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation.  Neither I, nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Availability (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, small and medium sized businesses play a central role in the sustainable recovery of the Irish economy.  To facilitate this, Government policy is focused on ensuring that all viable SMEs have access to an appropriate supply of credit from a diverse range of bank and non-bank sources. In terms of monitoring the requirements for SMEs, my Department commissions...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Customs and Excise Controls (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that their Customs Service currently deploys seventeen detector dog teams, nine of which have drug detection capabilities. I am advised by Revenue that as part of its risk focused approach to combatting illegal drugs importations, all ports and airports are monitored and evaluated from the point of view of potential for smuggling. Resources are deployed to areas of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Customs and Excise Controls (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that it currently has approximately 2,000 staff countrywide engaged on activities that are dedicated to targeting and confronting non-compliance. These activities include anti-smuggling and anti-evasion, investigation and prosecution, audit, assurance checks, anti-avoidance, returns compliance and debt collection. There are currently 860 Revenue staff serving in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Living City Initiative (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Living City Initiative has been in operation for just over a year. To date, take-up of the scheme has been lower than anticipated, considering up to 100% of relevant expenditure may be tax relieved. As a result, the Government is committed to introducing changes to the Initiative to make it more effective. The recently published Programme for Partnership in Government states: "We...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Debt (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 105 together. The Deputy will already be aware that the Government attaches great importance to addressing the issue of mortgage arrears and wants to keep families in their homes and avoid repossessions insofar as possible and in that context it will today publish the Housing Action Plan setting out the implementation strategy for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: Significant progress has been made in improving Ireland's competitiveness in recent years. The latest figures from Eurostat estimated that nominal unit labour costs (a widely used measure of competitiveness internationally) in Ireland declined by 4.2 per cent annually in 2015, the largest decline across all EU Member States for which data are...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Charges (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: As I have said in my answer to the Deputy's Parliamentary Question No. 113 [7735/16] on 20 April 2016, all credit institutions in Ireland are independent commercial entities. I, as Minister for Finance, have no statutory role in relation to the charges applied by credit institutions. Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995, as amended, requires that credit institutions, prescribed...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: Member State contributions to the EU Budget are based upon a formula which includes Traditional Own Resources (customs duties), a VAT-based payment and a residual balancing component paid in accordance with each Member State's share of EU Gross National Income (GNI). Payments to the EU budget are made on a twice-monthly basis over the course of the year and Ireland became a net contributor...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) informs me that its current investment holdings in fossil fuel companies are among legacy global investments from its predecessor the National Pensions Reserve Fund. In the absence of a globally accepted definition and list of fossil fuel companies, a company-by-company analysis of the Fund's entire holdings would be necessary to determine the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has informed me that it has a close working relationship with the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources and is committed to investing in the energy sector in a manner that is consistent with the State's commitment to make the transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and sustainable economy. The ISIF investment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The most up-to-date general government debt (GGD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) ratios are set out as follows: 2014 2015 GGD (% GDP) 105.2% 78.7% GGD (% GNP) 124.4% 99.3% Source: Eurostat, CSO, Department of Finance The historical debt, GDP and GNP data included within the table is published by the Central Statistics Office...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week published national income and expenditure results for 2015. These figures indicate that real GDP grew by some 26 per cent last year. This is significantly stronger than the previous estimate of 7.8 per cent. This substantial upward revision is largely related to the activities of a small number of large multinational firms and reflects a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Reductions (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: The 9% reduced VAT rate was introduced as part of the Government Jobs Initiative, for the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2013 in respect of tourism related services, including hotel and holiday accommodation; various entertainment services; the use of sporting facilities; hairdressing services; and printed matter such as maps, brochures and newspapers. The tourism sector is a key...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that the number of individuals about whom data has been provided, on request, to the Health Service Executive (HSE) under section 8 of the Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2013 is as follows: Year No. 2015 1,236,788 2016 to date 562,537 The data supplied by Revenue to the HSE reflect income details returned by self employed taxpayers in their...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Growth Rate (20 Jul 2016)

Michael Noonan: My Department will prepare a full macroeconomic projection in advance of Budget 2017 in October. Officials from my Department will then go through the normal procedural steps with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council as part of the endorsement exercise. The Budget day publication will include updated projections for economic growth, the public finances and the fiscal space, taking account...