Results 17,281-17,300 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: I welcome the Minister and his officials to the meeting. In the context of the banking union, when does the Minister envisage that Irish consumers, including mortgage holders, SMEs, corporate customers, will be able to avail of a single European market for financial services? When will they be able to acquire loans, for example, from European banks? What elements of the banking union have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: I hear the Minister's answer but the issues are very much related. The European Union operates to the fundamental principle of the freedom of movement of goods and services. I am free to buy any product from Germany, France, or Spain, for example, except for financial products or services such as mortgages. I raise this issue in light of the retail interest rate statistics for the eurozone...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: When I look at the figures, I see that the only other eurozone countries that have rates above 3% are Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Greece. To the best of my knowledge, the non-performing loan rates in Greece are not exactly healthy. There is no question but that we need to bring down our level of non-performing loan exposure as a country; it is a question of how to do so, which is another...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Yes, but the Minister did cite it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister revert to the committee in writing with his own assessment as to where we are on the full application of a single European market in financial services?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: This issue is on the agenda of the Eurogroup and ECOFIN. I would like the Minister to come back to us with his assessment as to where we are at and when he expects Irish consumers will be in a position to go directly to a bank based in another European country to buy a financial product from it. If we are to have a proper single European market, that is not too much to ask. That is where...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: May I move on to the MFF? In the context of the Irish contribution and the implications of the proposals made by the European Commission, could the Minister give us his sense of where he sees the Irish contribution going? He pointed out that the figure set out in the SPU is forecast to be approximately €2.7 billion in 2018, moving to €2.9 billion next year. Does the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Is the Minister's figure what we can afford or what it is likely we will be required to pay. I am not asking him to reveal the figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: On the impact on the MFF owing to the withdrawal from the European Union of the United Kingdom, what is the Department's assessment of what the Brexit gap is likely to be and the position of the Irish Government on how it should be filled, be it through additional contributions to member states, cuts to programme funding or funding from other sources?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Regarding the Commission's proposals, I understand it is assuming that the common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, will come into effect and that it is factoring in certain resources or revenue from the introduction of the CCCTB, which the Government continues to oppose. Could the Minister give us the Government's position on that? Why would the Commission be bringing forward...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: What is the quantum of money the Commission has included from that potential source in the draft proposals?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: The Commission has included €12 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Is that over the lifetime of the MFF?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: If the CCCTB does not come in then that is another €12 billion of a gap, though it is over the lifetime rather than in the case of the Brexit one, which is an annual gap.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: The first country specific recommendation includes a reference to using windfall gains to accelerate the reduction of the general government debt ratio. Could the Minister give his view on Ireland's current general government debt ratio? What is the appropriate measure of it? Does he believe it to be on a sustainable path? Apart from improvements in our annual budgetary position, does the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Is that debt-to-GDP?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: There have been media reports speculating that the Minister is considering a further share sale in AIB, which is relevant to the question of windfall gains and reducing the general government debt ratio. Is that under consideration?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: Demographic-related costs are an important issue for the Committee on Budgetary Oversight in respect of expenditure profiles. Is the Minister satisfied that the estimates he is working with or commitments in the area of old age pension provision and health and education provisions, taking into account the demographic profile and projections that we are working to, are comprehensive and have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Minister.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report June 2018: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (13 Jun 2018)

Michael McGrath: I have a few questions. One question is on the forecast horizon. As was correctly pointed out, until relatively recently the forecast horizon was five years. It is now three years on the fiscal side. I would have a concern that we have not got a proper handle on the costs that are coming down the line, when one looks at what is happening in healthcare with the cost of drugs, the ageing...