Results 10,801-10,820 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: He is basically a nice fellow.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: We had a discussion on the financial transaction tax at the first meeting I chaired in January in Brussels. There is a legal power within the treaties whereby if a group of countries wants to advance a particular policy, it can move ahead under what is called enhanced co-operation. Some 11 countries signed up to follow that route. That is only the start of the matter, not the end of it,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: No; the contracts will be maintained. The idea that is being discussed is that the trackers would be removed from whatever institution is involved and put into a separate institution. Rather than crystallising the debt from mortgages that are not washing their faces, we would let them run out. They would be warehoused in a separate entity so that the debts are not crystallised. Over time,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: No; they have a legal right to the arrangements they entered into. What was the Deputy's other question?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: If the hierarchy was left as it is now, it would make no difference. The change being made is to give a preference to depositors of amounts over €100,000 so that they will rank below senior bondholders. There was concern among some member states that because senior bonds were being treated as higher on the hierarchy, that might affect the price of bonds and would increase interest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: I realise that, but they are marginal to the point that there is no need for concern. That was the message.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy for his observation and comments in support of the changes which the Irish Presidency is advocating on where in the hierarchy of deposits over €100,000 should fall. That is important. The second observation related to economic and monetary union, how it has developed and the over-enthusiastic confidence of some of its supporters. What we really have is a series of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: I understand what the Deputy means. There is certainly a discussion strictly on the bank recovery and resolution proposal to the effect that there should be flexibility and national discretion such that the Sovereigns would not be tied into every detail of the wider European policy and that they would have local discretion. Anders Borg, the Swedish Minister, telephoned me yesterday. Sweden...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: The debate is continuing on these matters. I am suggesting that if the concept of flexibility is built in, it is possible to have supplementary national measures which would add to the toolbox available to all euro member states or European Union member states in the banking union. Deputy Donnelly asked a question about pensions. I replied to a written parliamentary question from Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: The €100,000 guarantee is common practice across the Union. Every country has it and it is standardised at €100,000. There is a possible difference of opinion on the definitions of a deposit and a pension. I do not want to give the Deputy a quick answer without getting advice and checking it out, particularly with the Central Bank. I can respond to the Deputy later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: I will go back over this again and see if I can throw more light on it for the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: It is too soon to assume that the Irish banks need additional capital. The position at the end of 2012 was that the core tier 1 capital of AIB was 15.1%, that of Bank of Ireland was 14.4% and that of PTSB was 18%. When the stress testing was done in Spain and, more recently, in Cyprus, it was not done for 10.5% core tier 1 capital as was done in Ireland when we did stress tests. Stress...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy does not know that. He should not be making assertions without evidence to back them up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: They are assertions. We will see, in due course, whether the banks need more capital. If they do, they do. At the current time, I have no evidence that the banks need more capital. They are very well capitalised, in fact they are the best capitalised banks in Europe and were capitalised at 10.5% core tier 1 capital when the norm in Europe is 9%. If we do further stress tests we have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Senator. The references to fraud arise from the agenda we had earlier in the week. There has been huge VAT fraud across the EU. We were scheduled to discuss an initiative on its elimination on Tuesday but it has been deferred, probably until the June meeting. The European authorities are focusing on tax evasion because of the savings directive I mentioned and countries like...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: It does not have any impact on what Michael Somers was talking about. After the financial crisis in America, banks pulled back from various parts of the world. One set of advice will tell one that it was part of the shake-out of the banking system. People pulled back from Dublin, as they did from other financial centres. Others will say that when the pendulum of regulation swung from soft...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: We can, but it is an item that will not be discussed at any great length. It will probably be brought up by President Van Rompuy at the informal breakfast session. It is a very packed agenda. It is a rolling discussion about the EMU. Deputies Donnelly and Mathews have a better insight into it after the seminar yesterday in Brussels than anyone who will attend ECOFIN on Tuesday. We will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: That is an offer for the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: There will be an extension of maturities and additional surveillance. However, there are so many other things. Deputy Donnelly referred to the two pack, six pack and various oversights. There is a lot of oversight coming from Europe now in any case. It has been overtaken by events. I do not think it will add any burden to us in addition to all the other fiscal rules that have applied to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (8 May 2013)

Michael Noonan: It will be from the Central Fund. There is already about €23 million in the Central Fund for this purpose because we knew that some additional costs would arise. The total annual cost would be in excess of €100 million, possibly €112 million. It will depend on when it comes in.