Results 14,921-14,940 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Government is aware of the significant difficulties some homeowners are facing in meeting their mortgage obligations, and the Deputy will know that a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem is now in place.  A key component of this is the Central Bank mortgage arrears resolution targets - or MART - framework, which set out quarterly performance targets for mortgage arrears...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: We set targets and I am satisfied that the Central Bank has advised me that the targets are being met. The quantum of permanent restructuring is increasing each quarter. The latest information available to me indicates that 54,000 mortgagees have had proposals for permanent restructuring. That is progress. The details of whether the restructuring holds up when audits are carried out by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: We have been over this ground several times previously, and Deputy Doherty will have an opportunity in committee to go through it on a line-by-line basis with the banks. What I have said to him is that we set targets and in any reasonable process over an extended period of time, once the targets are set by the Central Bank, I am reasonably satisfied if the bank informs us that those targets...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: As outlined in the Medium-Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020, the Government continues to work on addressing challenges in the property and construction sectors. This includes the development of an overall strategic approach to housing supply, identifying and implementing further improvements in the planning process to facilitate appropriate development, and seeking to improve financing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy gets confused with percentages. If a house drops from €300,000 to €200,000, it is a reduction of 33.3% but if the house increases from €200,000 to €300,000 it is an increase of 50%. Moving away from percentages and looking at the actual amount of money by which house prices are rising in Dublin, the prices are still 47% to 50% below where they were at...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: Outrage does not build houses. One needs to have a plan-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: One needs to have a plan to build houses.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I remind the Deputy that it is only one year ago since he was equally outraged by the overhang of empty property in the market in Ireland - ghost estates and unfinished apartment blocks.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The recovery has been very strong. We have offered over 4,000 houses through NAMA to local authorities and they are available for them as they want them. NAMA has committed to building 4,000 social houses in Dublin in co-operation with the local authorities.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: NAMA advertised for joint ventures and received the results in the past two weeks. There is huge interest in providing housing in Dublin through joint ventures between NAMA and experienced building companies with the use of foreign finance. NAMA has told me it is very confident that in the next five years or so it can produce 22,500 private houses - family homes - in Dublin. We are getting...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Unions Restructuring (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The credit union movement is a very important sector and I would like to give the Deputy the update he seeks. There were 388 credit unions at the end of December 2013 with total assets of €13.9 billion. Total members' savings for 2013 amounted to €11.6 billion. Loans to members have decreased by almost 13 per cent from December 2012 and currently stand at €4.3 billion,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Unions Restructuring (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The imposition of lending restrictions is the responsibility of the Registrar of Credit Unions, who is the independent regulator of credit unions at the Central Bank. Within her independent regulatory discretion, the registrar acts to support the prudential soundness of individual credit unions to maintain sector stability and to protect the savings of credit union members. I have been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Unions Restructuring (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I understand the Central Bank's three-month multi-debt framework pilot, which operated during the final quarter of 2013, has now run its course. The pilot helped to highlight factors which assist, as well as issues which prevent, borrowers with multiple debts from finding mutually acceptable informal solutions with their lenders. Any further initiatives arising from the pilot framework...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is not surprising that trade unions and others would call for wage increases, especially given the recent visible improvements in the economic environment, including in the labour market. Indeed this improvement in economic conditions is evident from the fact that certain firms throughout the private sector have recently agreed to pay increases to their employees. However, other firms,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: All members of society, including employees, have contributed to the adjustments it has been necessary to make in recent years. I suppose the biggest contribution has been made by those who lost their jobs. There is a trade-off between the general level of pay in an economy and the number of new jobs one can provide. The priority of the Government is focused on creating new jobs. However,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: Wages in Ireland, at certain levels, are lower than in the economies described by the Deputy, albeit not dramatically so. Many of the wage rates for comparative work in the United Kingdom are about the same or lower. However, if one looks towards eastern Europe, the countries of which compete with us frequently, there are much lower pay rates. I recall that in my own home town of Limerick...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is not all confined to the Netherlands or the Italian region around Milan. However, the policy is clear. The Government is not returning to centralised bargaining, but it will continue to grow the economy. It is seeking to use many of the benefits of growth to create additional jobs because there are high unemployment levels and many students are coming out of schools and colleges....

Other Questions: Pensions Legislation (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Finance Act 2013 provides members of occupational pension schemes with a three-year window of opportunity from 27 March 2013 during which they can opt to draw down, on a once-off basis, up to 30% of the accumulated value of AVCs. The provisions also apply to AVCs made to personal retirement savings accounts. Administrators of AVC funds, including PRSA administrators, are required to...

Other Questions: Pensions Legislation (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: From a policy point of view, I am a bit ambivalent about it. I realise the importance of making proper provision for pension purposes; however, if people are absolutely financially stuck they might need access to savings they have put away in AVCs. Certainly the drawdown was less than I expected. I would have thought, as a result of the advocacy by different groups and the personal...

Other Questions: Pensions Legislation (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The points are well made. I will examine the matter again before the next Finance Bill is introduced when I will take the Deputy's views into account. We may have a further discussion on it at some stage at the finance committee-----