Results 7,161-7,180 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: No, it is somewhere around the €3.5 billion to which we are committed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: That is in the arithmetic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: There is no suggestion that a failure to make a deal will increase the adjustment. The only variation on the adjustment would be around the €3.5 billion figure, depending on the opening position.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: That is already in the arithmetic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: Yes, it would eventually be borrowed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: No. That will not happen in any scenario. The connection between the promissory note and the budget is positive, if we can get a deal. The degree of positivity would depend on the deal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: That is as I have previously outlined. A combination of the direct action the banks have committed to undertaking and the Personal Insolvency Bill will work through for the indebted people and put them in a position to repay their mortgages at a reduced rate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: There is a full range of interventions that should apply to everybody. The process must be taken on a case-by-case basis. Nobody can enunciate a general policy, as if there was a general policy of debt forgiveness, a person would be foolish to pay a debt. That will not happen and there will not be a general policy of debt forgiveness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: If there is a problem, people can come in through Shannon as there is plenty of room there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: Yes, a series of VAT directives have emanated from Europe and our VAT must comply with them. A change would lead to ongoing and lengthy negotiations because an awful lot of people in various countries would object. I do not think that a dramatic change is imminent.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: Riding horses?

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Haulage Industry Regulation (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware a working group was set up between officials of my Department, the IRHA and members of the Oireachtas. This working group had a series of meetings to discuss issues of concern to the haulage industry including the matter of an essential users rebate. I have recently received a submission from the group and I am considering the matters raised.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Job Assist Scheme Eligibility (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: The Revenue Job Assist allowance is available to two separate categories of individual: (a) - an individual who, prior to taking up a qualifying employment, was continuously unemployed for the immediate period of 12 months and who was in receipt of either Jobseeker’s Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or the One-Parent Family Payment. Individuals that sign for PRSI credits are...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Black Economy Issues (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95, 97 and 98 together. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they are very mindful of the unfair competitive advantage to be gained by those businesses that do not fulfil their tax obligations. Revenue’s tax and duty compliance programmes are under constant review to ensure that they are focussed on the areas of greatest risk, including...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am well aware of the challenges facing all businesses in the current economic climate. My Department is just one of many who are working to support and encourage business in Ireland, and the following are some examples of how this is being done. Access to credit is widely regarded as one of the biggest challenges facing businesses in Ireland at present. The Government has imposed lending...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that Section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief in respect of health expenses in the provision of health care incurred by an individual or an individual’s spouse or civil partner, on their own behalf or on behalf of someone else. Any contribution made by an individual in defraying nursing home expenses on behalf of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: The position, as stated in the Programme for Government, is that as part of the Government’s fiscal strategy, we will maintain the current rates of income tax along with bands and credits. In addition, we will not increase the top marginal rates of taxes on income. There are no plans at this time to depart from this policy. I should point out that the top marginal rate of taxation...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: As I have stated recently to the Deputy, the estimated full-year costs and-or yields of the tax revenue measures introduced in Budget 2012 are set out on pages B5 to B11 of the Summary of 2012 Budget and Estimates Measures Policy Changes section of the budget 2012 book. In the context of producing the budget 2013 tax revenue forecasts in the coming weeks, the Revenue Commissioners will...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pension Provisions (18 Oct 2012)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the latest relevant information available is in respect of income tax relief allowed for contributions to Retirement Annuity Contracts (RACs) and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) for the 2009 income tax year. RACs and PRSAs are available to self-employed people and to employees who are not in occupational pension schemes. The...