Results 24,881-24,900 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: We have gone over all this ground already. I do not agree with the Deputy; he has a different point of view. It seems to me that he confuses €1,800 with €18,000 in his additional argument about the cost. He talked about astronomical sums of money. I disagree with him but he is entitled to his view.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: That is as I understand it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The discussion has gone well beyond the Finance Bill. I have been asked to comment on areas on which I have no expertise. In talking about 10% or 12% I was referring to the equity piece. The traditional model for a small builder building 70 or 80 houses was bank finance for about 60% to two-thirds, with the rest provided by the builder from the profits from the previous 70 or 80 houses...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: They are different again. The NAMA people are being financed through NAMA. NAMA is putting up the finance for the builders within NAMA.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: That is a different piece again. The Government has provided funds for that to local authorities.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Let us see.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Every local authority has to prioritise. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has not told me that local authorities have come back to him looking for additional funds to open sites. Money is available and it was put up on the basis of a first tranche of money.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The extra money can be made available, but it has to respond to requirements. There is no point in putting up money that will not be used. The practicalities of this are not about drawing up reports, or having reviews or designs; it is about using the resources to build more houses and we have to concentrate on that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: There is also the money to which the Deputy referred, which is available to local authorities to open up land that is inaccessible and in which no one builder will invest unless it is opened up. That is a public investment function, for which money is available. I forget whether it was €80 million or €100 million that was put up, but it was a first tranche. It can be...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: So far, the suggestions I have are in different categories and do not necessarily overlap. However, I have made a commitment to Deputy Michael McGrath that I will commission an independent impact assessment of the help-to-buy scheme with a view to examining the general impact under the headings he has suggested. That will be done in September 2017. On that basis he dropped his amendments...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I will discuss that matter with him and we will have notes on this discussion. I will come back to the Deputy on Report Stage to see where we are at.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Of course.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I have not given the Deputy a commitment because I do not know what she is requesting. She is talking about this committee, together with the budgetary committee, commissioning a piece of work. I do not see where I fit into it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am also trying to be helpful. I will help the Deputy in any way I can.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: Which amendment is that?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: We will do that.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The UK referendum on EU membership presents an important challenge for the economy. My Department has been to the fore in producing and funding relevant analysis on Brexit. Previous outputs include a scoping study produced by the ESRI last year under the joint research programme, initial short-term estimates published in the summer economic statement, an analysis of the possible...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: If there was never a Brexit, the economy would still be slowing down somewhat now towards a sustainable growth rate. When one comes out of a recession, there is a lot of spare capacity in an economy. When it begins to improve, growth rates are beyond the sustainable growth rate. When there is such spare capacity in the economy it grows more rapidly than it would be expected to grow on...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: There is already some reduction in business confidence because uncertainty always produces that. There is some impact on exposed horticultural industries, such as the mushroom production industry. We are all aware of that. It is affecting other food exporters also. One must decide how the United Kingdom will replace its imports from Ireland on the agrifood side. Since the devaluation is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: NAMA Operations (10 Nov 2016)

Michael Noonan: The newspaper article that Deputy Murphy refers to includes a reference to a specific property. I am informed that NAMA was not the owner or seller of this property. The sale was managed by a receiver and, in accordance with NAMA's policy, was fully openly marketed and sold to the highest bidder. The article also includes reference to correspondence between NAMA and a former Deputy...