Results 17,341-17,360 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: At ECOFIN, 28 countries sit around the table. I have had no contact from the British authorities on this issue. It is Tuesday evening and we will be there on Friday. I met George Osborne last Wednesday in Berlin and spoke to him for a little while. He did not raise the issue with me. I assume that on Thursday night or Friday morning we will have some level of contact. The purpose of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: The debate is settled from the Irish perspective. We do not want to open it up. I have had no official communication from the UK authorities.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: That is not my point. I am relying on newspaper reports on the UK position. They seem to state the first objection was to the amount. It then seemed to move from this and timing was the issue, and then the issue was that the question of calculation might be opened. I do not know whether this is background briefing or a policy position. I do not want to comment on the UK position until I...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: It will go on to the budget Council on 14 November. Normally I do not attend the budget Council meetings. The former Minister of State, Brian Hayes, used to attend. He will be succeeded by the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: I have not seen the basis of the calculations. Our economist, Mr. John McCarthy, will speak on this point.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: The trend is better than one might have anticipated earlier in the year. I had a look at it today and growth forecast goes from 0.8% to 1.7% in 2016. The trend is in the right direction. It is positive. Obviously one hopes it will be better. The factors driving the Irish economy are fairly well known. Ours is an export-led model and the UK and US are growing quite strongly. The US is...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: Actually, the door only opens on 8 December. While there are legal provisions being put in place this week, the actual opening of the ESM for business is on 8 December. It is only after that date that action can be taken. Of course we are doing evaluation work, as we always do in the Department, but it is a matter of judgment on when and how to proceed. As I have said to Deputy Doherty...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: It is a very good point.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: I do not.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: No, I am the shareholder.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: Maybe because I live here and my children and grandchildren live here, I have a stronger interest than someone who lives in Luxembourg.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: The Deputy is losing the debate when he starts throwing dirt.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: Deputy Doherty has been searching for four years for a good case to illustrate bank evictions but has not come up with one yet.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: I do not agree with the Deputy's narrative that right-wing governments in Europe caused and deepened the crisis. When Greece went under, it was ruled by the socialists. They were far to the left of the social democrats we know commonly in European governments. When Portugal went under it was ruled by the left and the extreme left, so the people-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: When the rescue commenced in Portugal, the Government had changed but the people who caused the crisis and drove the country under were part of an extreme left Government. The Deputy should check the facts.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: The Deputy should look at the data that were published today and check the composition of the governments in countries where the economies are growing and the composition of the governments in countries where the economies are not growing. In terms of the big countries, namely, France and Italy, and particularly France which has a left-wing Government, they do not seem, so far, to be...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: We are not left, we are centre right.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: We are in the European People's Party.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: Which European parties does Deputy Murphy regard as left wing?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)
Michael Noonan: No, they caused the crash.