Results 14,401-14,420 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Other Questions: Banking Sector Issues (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: The same rules apply. We have held meetings with Ulster Bank, which has confirmed this. I have also twice met - once before Christmas and once after - Mr. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, who assured me that the policy that is published in respect of Ulster Bank is the one that will continue to be implemented.

Other Questions: Banking Sector Issues (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: I met the chief executive of RBS. He was accompanied by the chief executive of Ulster Bank. We discussed the future of Ulster Bank. What they stated was consistent with the information I had received from the Governor of the Bank of England. Ulster Bank will continue to trade North and South and try to be a high street bank providing the kinds of service that are needed, but we should...

Other Questions: Banking Sector Issues (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy knows that banks all over the world have lost a great deal of money. RBS suffered very severe losses, as did its subsidiary in Ireland, Ulster Bank. They are all restructuring and trying to be more efficient and to cut costs. As part of the restructuring, Ulster Bank moved the unit to Edinburgh. From a legal or practical point of view, though, this will not affect mortgage...

Other Questions: Tax Code (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: As I indicated in my earlier reply to Deputy Pearse Doherty, the income tax burden is too high and needs to be reduced. However, I have also stated that, although it is my intention to alleviate the burden, I can only do so when the public finances allow it. The general government debt at the end of 2013 is estimated to be just over €200 billion and each year we incur an annual...

Other Questions: Tax Code (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is reasonable to adopt different positions based on one's perspective. I am sure that we will hold many discussions on tax over the next two years or so. Many part-time workers are not in the tax net. Some 850,000 workers do not pay income tax because they are not liable for it. Many of those are part-time rather than low-paid workers. This is one starting position. The benefit of...

Other Questions: Tax Code (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: We publish a great deal of data every year and put much of them up on our website. There is also the tax reform group, the papers of which are published.

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is important to highlight that the contractual terms and conditions of all customer mortgages and other borrowings have not changed as a result of the appointment of the special liquidators; nor will those terms and conditions change as a result of the ultimate sale of these obligations to a third party. Purchasers of mortgage loans will be required to honour the legal...

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: Hyping up the situation and using extreme emotional language is not helping the mortgage holders.

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: Yes, because they are being well hyped up by people-----

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: ------whose interests are not their interests.

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is unfair to the mortgage holders to be raising unreal fears.

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is unfair to the mortgage holders to be raising unreal fears. We should not do it. People have different objectives. I am prepared to back the mortgage holders and work towards a solution. I said it was complicated and that my officials are in talks with the Central Bank and the Attorney General's office on the best possible solution. The liquidator must get the best return possible...

Other Questions: IBRC Mortgage Loan Book (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: I accept what the Deputy says. We are working on solutions and monitoring the situation every step of the way. There is a process of sale going on which will be completed in the middle of March. We must wait to see who purchases the loan books, following which, if necessary, we can act. We are not standing idly by. We are working in parallel but for legal reasons I am not going to...

Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Bill to which the Deputy refers is listed in the legislative programme, published last month, under the category "Bills in respect of which heads have yet to be approved by Government".  The purpose of the Bill is to provide for the application of the protections provided to mortgage holders under the Central Bank's CCMA to loan books which have been sold by...

Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: The commitment given previously by the unregulated purchasers of mortgage books was a formal one, but I could not say whether it has the force of contract law without checking the legal position. However, I would not expect anybody to resile from it; if a formal commitment is given, it stands. The commitment is given publicly to the mortgage holders in the first place, but it is also given...

Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is important to think the matter through. NAMA is required to get the best return possible for the taxpayer on anything it sells. The only way for it to establish this is to have a competitive process. That is exactly what the liquidator is doing. It cannot sell a single mortgage unilaterally to the mortgage holder because it needs to establish value in the market. If it were to sell...

Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: The publication of the Deputy's Bill was quite helpful to us and me, personally. It sharpens the consciousness of anybody thinking of buying that there are concerns in the House and that there is a legislative route that this Parliament might follow. We can discuss it, but I see it as something we will deal with as the situation develops. It should develop very rapidly and conclude in...

Topical Issue Debate: Corporation Tax Regime (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: I have had detailed public discussions with the Deputy on this issue on a number of occasions, most recently at the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on Thursday of last week. He will also recall that the issue of effective tax rates was discussed at length on Committee Stage of the Finance Bill last November. In view of the significant confusion around the issue, it...

Topical Issue Debate: Corporation Tax Regime (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: I do not think the Deputy and I are going to solve this conundrum this evening because we have had this debate several times before. I acknowledge that there are different estimates of what the effective tax rate is in Ireland. We have gone through them on a number of occasions. The most fruitful way to advance this debate is to revert to the Committee Stage debate on the Finance Bill in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Taxation Yield (20 Feb 2014)

Michael Noonan: Section 157 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, as amended, provides that, in each financial year commencing with 2014, the Minister shall pay from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof into the Local Government Fund an amount equivalent to the LPT, including any interest paid thereon, paid into the Central Fund during that year. Accordingly, receipts from the Local...