Results 12,401-12,420 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: Where requested by Government, NewERA (a business unit in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is carrying out advisory and oversight roles in relation to the possible restructuring or disposal of commercial State company assets. NewERA’s role in these disposal processes is to assist and advise the relevant Government Departments in representing the Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Council Meetings (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The Taoiseach will represent Ireland at the European Council on 24/25 October 2013. The Council agenda includes the following subjects: digital economy, innovation and services; growth, competitiveness and jobs; and the economic and monetary union. These issues are of great importance to Ireland’s and Europe’s future growth prospects. While I will not be attending the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU-IMF Programme of Support Issues (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: I interact on a continuous basis with all of my EU counterparts, in particular at the monthly Ecofin meetings, including with the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. The most recent comments by Chancellor Merkel acknowledge the successful reforms taken by Ireland under the EU/IMF economic adjustment programme. These reforms have been taken to benefit the Irish economy and have put...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Financial Stability Facility (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: I have not had any discussions with Chancellor Merkel since her recent re-election. However, as the Deputy will be aware, the Euro-Area Heads of State or Government agreed on 29th June 2012 to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns, and that when a Single Supervisory Mechanism is in place involving the ECB, the ESM could recapitalize banks directly. The Euro-Area Heads of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: International Tax Issues (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The Commission has not sought information on the so-called 'Double Irish' structure as part of its current review of corporate tax ruling procedures in various EU Member States. The Commission review is looking at practice in relation to the provision of advance tax rulings or opinions. The 'Double Irish' two-tier structure is an international tax-planning arrangement which has been...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The Taoiseach, myself and other members of the Government have repeatedly expressed the Government's commitment to the retention of the 12.5% rate and I do not foresee any concerns in this regard.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget 2014 Issues (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: Budget 2014 is the culmination of a year long budgetary process. The development of the Budget consists of many important elements, including the publication of the Stability Programme Update and subsequent debate. Regarding the Budget, meetings take place throughout the year between my officials and officials of other organizations, such as the NTMA, the Revenue Commissioners and other...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fuel Smuggling (2 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they are very conscious of the threat that illicit fuel smuggling poses to the Exchequer and to legitimate business and they have adopted a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem. This strategy includes the following elements: - The licensing regime for auto fuel traders was strengthened with effect from September 2011 to limit the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2014 Issues (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The deficit target of 5.1% of GDP to which the Deputy refers is the maximum general government deficit in 2014 which the Government is required to deliver under the excessive deficit procedure in the Stability and Growth Pact. This is part of an agreed consolidation path which Ireland will follow in order to return the public finances to sustainability. The European Commission, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2014 Issues (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: I do not have the figure yet because my officials are still crunching the numbers. In April, the technical exercise showed that an adjustment of €3.1 billion brings us down to 4.3%. The situation deteriorated after that, when the CSO revised downwards the GDP estimate for 2012. The denominator became smaller so the arithmetic drove the deficit up. There was low growth in the first...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2014 Issues (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The target we must achieve is at least 5.1% to be operating in accordance with the programme. For reasons of market sentiment it is probably important to beat the target. At present, without having the full data available to me, I hope to bring in a deficit in the high fours. I think that would be sufficient to give the kind of market confidence we need on exiting. They will also be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, last March the Central Bank set specific performance targets for the six main banks, requiring them to propose sustainable solutions: to 20% of their mortgage customers who are in arrears of over 90 days by end June; to 30% by the end of September and; to 50% by the end of this year. The Central Bank also recently announced that it has agreed further mortgage arrears...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The targets will be verified by the bank by means of audit. As I understand it, whatever arrangement is put in place will have to be operating successfully for six months before it will be signed off by the bank. It is not enough to say the deal has been done, but that the deal has been done and the person with the impaired mortgage has paid on the new schedule for six months. That would...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: As I and the Taoiseach have stated on a number of occasions, it is a key responsibility of financial institutions to do more to assist those in severe financial difficulties. Letters threatening repossession or legal action could not be considered a sustainable solution under the mortage arrears targets and should only ever be considered after every possible avenue for a solution has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: As stated in my Department's statement of strategy for the period 2011 to 2014, one of our principal goals is to create a resilient Irish economy founded on sustainable and balanced growth and leading to significant increases in employment numbers. I stress that all of the economic policies of the Government, be they on repairing the banking sector or public finances or bringing down the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: We have no shortage of advice from some of the celebrity economists attached to some of our business schools or from various people who worked in the IMF over the years. We read all the advice. Sometimes it misses the point and at other times it is accurate. It is true that one of the big problems facing us is long-term unemployment. What has happened since we entered Government is that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: I would listen to the advice of any world-renowned expert or economist. I read a lot, but much of the advice is contradictory. One must adhere to one's best judgment. It is true that one can argue about the statistical composition of the live register, as the Deputy suggested, but it is not generally known that 90,000 people working part-time, all included, are on the live register. One...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Code (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The 9% reduced VAT rate for tourism-related services was introduced in July 2011 as part of the Government's jobs initiative. The measure was designed to boost tourism and create additional jobs in that sector. With regard to the economic impact on the tourism sector due to the introduction of the 9% VAT rate, the most recent data available from the CSO on economic growth broken down by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Code (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: The 9% VAT rate was a pump-priming exercise and like all pump-priming exercises, one primes the pump, the engine fires and when the engine is going, one does not need to prime the pump again. We must measure whether the industry can now go without special measures and, like any other sector, pay the VAT rate which applies to it. On the issue of cost, part of the jobs initiative was that we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Code (3 Oct 2013)

Michael Noonan: There is only a discrepancy if one puts a ring around the jobs initiative back in May 2011 and assumes that the Government never took any other initiative on job creation subsequently. The jobs initiative was rolled into the wider jobs programme under the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton. Enormous amounts of money have been spent on job creation measures...