Results 3,681-3,700 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Budget Submissions: Budget Submissions (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I have met recently with a number of groups as part of the Budget 2012 process. These included the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Community and Voluntary Pillar. As the Deputy will be aware, the Pillar is comprised of seventeen organisations representing the interests of people from many different sectors of society. In addition, my Department has received to date more than 260...

Written Answers — Economic and Monetary Union: Economic and Monetary Union (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: Firstly, I would like to stress the considerable progress that has already been made in terms of improving the functioning of the EU and the euro area in particular. Amongst other things we now have: The EU Semester; Strengthened surveillance via the so-called 'six-pack' of governance measures; Support for vulnerable economies via the EFSF and the EFSM; A permanent crisis resolution...

Written Answers — Government Debt Ratios: Government Debt Ratios (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: At the time of the of the Stability Programme Update, the General Government Debt to GDP ratio was forecast to peak at 118% in 2013 before falling to 111% in 2015. This assessment was based on the macroeconomic and fiscal outlook as set at that time. Like all forecasts, these are subject to change. As events have evolved, my Department has revised its assessment for the period 2011-2015. ...

Written Answers — Postal Services: Postal Services (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: A draft report setting out the Strategy for Financial Inclusion was published on my Department's website in June of this year for consultation purposes. The strategy was drafted following a review undertaken by the Social Finance Foundation on my behalf, to identify recommended actions to achieve a substantial reduction in financial exclusion over a 3-5 year period– including the...

Written Answers — Unemployment Levels: Unemployment Levels (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: My Department's latest economic forecasts were published in the recent Medium Term Fiscal Statement. A return to annual employment growth is now expected to be delayed until 2013 and as a result the unemployment rate will take longer to decline than had previously been anticipated. The weaker labour market recovery is a consequence of slower economic growth. While the economy is expected to...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government contained a commitment to review the Universal Social Charge (USC). The Terms of Reference of the Review were to examine the impact of the USC with particular focus on the following areas: Low paid income earners; Persons over 65; Medical Card Holders; Widows/Widowers; Self-employed; Public Service Pensioners; Employer contributions...

Written Answers — Irish Bank Resolution Corporation: Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As part of the planning process around the submission of a business plan to the EC, the Bank initiated an internal process to develop a new name. A shortlist of names was approved internally in the bank and submitted to the Department of Finance. The Minister, at that time, considered the shortlist of names and opted instead to call the bank the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited....

Written Answers — Tax Yield: Tax Yield (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: Universal Social Charge (USC) receipts are collected by the Revenue Commissioners as a component of income tax. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that it is estimated that receipts from the USC amounted to slightly less than €2.3 billion in the first ten months of 2011. This compares to a projected yield of just slightly over €2.3 billion for that period and so receipts were...

Written Answers — European Financial Stability Fund: European Financial Stability Fund (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Euro Area Heads of State and Government at their meeting of 21 July last, announced a number of significant changes to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). These changes included increasing the effective capacity of the EFSF to its headline €440 billion figure by increasing the level of over-guarantee from €440 billion (120%) to €780 billion (165%); reducing the...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Domicile Levy applies to an individual who is an Irish citizen and Irish domiciled, whose worldwide income exceeds €1 m, whose Irish located property is worth more than €5 m, and whose liability to Irish tax is less than €200,000. Any Irish income tax paid for the tax year in question can be used as a credit against the levy liability. A yield figure for the levy could not be...

Written Answers — National Debt: National Debt (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: National debt is essentially the debt of the Exchequer. There is a second, wider measure of debt which is General Government debt. This is the standard measure of gross indebtedness used for comparative purposes within the EU. It includes the National debt as well as Local Government debt, Promissory Notes and some other minor liabilities of Government. Unlike National debt, it is a gross...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I understand that the Deputy is referring to trading in "futures" in foodstuffs such as wheat on stock markets and the need to have a regulatory framework in place to deal with these trades. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a regulatory regime for these types of trades is already in place. This regime was set down in the 2004 EU Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments, which was...

Written Answers — Fiscal Advisory Council: Fiscal Advisory Council (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As has been set out in the Medium-Term Fiscal Statement (MTFS), Ireland's General Government Deficit is expected to be €16 billion, or 10.3 per cent of GDP, in 2011. In order to bridge this gap between revenues and spending, the Irish State has to engage in large volumes of borrowing. Ireland is relying on external assistance through the EU/IMF Programme for this borrowing. The...

Written Answers — European Central Bank: European Central Bank (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: The voting procedure for the Governing Council of the European Central Bank is set out in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. Any change to the voting rights set out in Article 10 of the Statute would require the unanimous decision of the European Council, based on either a recommendation from the European Central Bank and after consulting the...

Written Answers — Banks Recapitalisation: Banks Recapitalisation (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As indicated I am eager to have the promissory notes examined to see if they can be reconstituted or re-engineered in a better way for the State, for example by lengthening their maturity or reducing the interest rates on them, or both. I raised this issue during discussions with the EU Commission, ECB and the IMF at the last quarterly review in October. Since then technical discussions are...

Written Answers — Vehicle Registration: Vehicle Registration (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy may be aware this matter is the subject of a Pre-Budget submission and as such will be considered in the context of the forthcoming Budget.

Written Answers — National Asset Management Agency: National Asset Management Agency (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: NAMA has a commercial mandate to obtain the best achievable financial return on behalf of the State. It has emphasised repeatedly that one of its objectives is to instigate the sale of properties by its debtors and in order to facilitate this, it approves the sale of properties by debtors at realistic current market prices. In terms of determining an appropriate current level of pricing for...

Written Answers — Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products: Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the collection of tobacco products tax, and for tackling the illicit trade in cigarettes and tobacco products, that they regard the tackling of the illicit tobacco trade as a high priority area. The strategy employed by Revenue to tackle this illicit trade is multi-faceted. It includes ongoing analysis of the nature and...

Written Answers — Economic and Monetary Union: Economic and Monetary Union (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: While we need to ensure that no one Member State nor a small number of Member States act entirely on their own in pushing agendas, there are some advantages of larger countries moving the agenda forward - for instance one of the main criticisms during the crisis has been the so-called 'leadership deficit'. So if the larger Member States can address this deficit, then that is in all of our...

Written Answers — Official Engagements: Official Engagements (15 Nov 2011)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 128, 132 and 133 together. Since my appointment as Minister for Finance I have engaged with Mr Draghi's predecessor at the ECB at Eurogroup/Ecofin meetings. I spoke with Mr Draghi on the margins of the Eurogroup meeting on 7th November and it is my intention to meet with him specifically at a date suitable to both our schedules. While no agenda has been...