Results 19,161-19,180 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Administration (31 Mar 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that deductions at source from Department of Social Protection (DSP) payments in respect of Local Property Tax (LPT) liabilities must not have the effect of reducing a property owner's weekly payment below the minimum rate of €186. The €186 per week minimum amount is enshrined in social welfare legislation and it was considered appropriate at the time...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Repossession Rate (31 Mar 2015)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Central Bank that 'Court Proceedings issued' means that a formal application has been made to a Court to begin repossession proceedings or that Court proceedings are currently ongoing. Cases counted under this heading include: - cases where an application has been made to Court but a Court date has not yet been received; - cases where Court proceedings have issued but...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Repossession Rate (31 Mar 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank of Ireland Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossessions Statistics over the course of the four quarters of 2014 reported that proceedings were issued to enforce the debt/security on a PDH mortgage in 11,424 cases in the year. This includes: - cases where an application has been made to Court but a Court date has not yet been received; - cases where Court...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Card Interest Rates (31 Mar 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank has advised me that it does not have a role in interest rate control.  Standard interest rates on credit cards are not subject to Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995 and so are not notifiable to the Bank.  These interest rates are not regulated by the Central Bank and as such, a regulated entity may determine the rate it charges its customers in line...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Card Interest Rates (31 Mar 2015)

Michael Noonan: I, as Minister for Finance have no role with regard to interest rates charged by licensed credit card companies. The Central Bank has informed me that they do not publish the information requested by the Deputy.  However, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has available comparison information on credit card interest rate on their website at ....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Lending institutions in Ireland, including those in which the State has a significant shareholding, are independent commercial entities. I have no statutory role in regard to regulated financial institutions passing on the European Central Bank interest rate changes or to the mortgage interest rates charged. It is a commercial matter for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: The views the Deputy is expressing are shared widely by Members on all sides. As I said in my response, a previous deputy Governor of the Central Bank indicated that within its existing powers and through the use of persuasion, it would continue to engage with specific lenders that appear to have standard variable rates set disproportionate to their cost of funds. I will speak to the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I will do my best to do as the Deputy requests, in accordance with the legal powers I have. Obviously, however, I cannot be expected to act illegally.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank Deputy Pearse Doherty for tabling this question. Tackling mortgage arrears is a priority for the Government. A whole-of-government approach has been adopted in addressing this issue, with a view to maximising the level of loan restructuring arrangements and minimising the number of home repossessions. Initiatives such as the reform of personal insolvency legislation, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, the essential issue revolves around ensuring that there are sufficient procedures and initiatives available to allow mortgages to be restructured in a way that will see to it that they are affordable. Some 110,000 mortgages have already been restructured and significant progress has also been made across a range of initiatives. In the past month or so, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, a menu of options is available to the lending institutions and mortgage holders in the context of restructuring mortgages. Some of these initiatives suit particular mortgages holders while others do not. One of the quite frankly disappointing aspects of this matter is the low level of take-up in respect of the personal insolvency legislation. However, the position...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Personal Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: While, as the Deputy states, this issue falls within the functional responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, he will be aware that the duration of bankruptcy was reduced from 12 years to three in December 2013. Insolvency Service of Ireland data indicate that for all of 2013, 58 people were adjudicated bankrupt by the High Court, whereas in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Personal Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: The issue of reducing the term of bankruptcy from three years to one year is separate from restructuring mortgages, and should be seen as such. By mixing both issues one could end up making a decision which would not be helpful. If somebody has mixed debt, the only institution that has security is the bank because it has the deeds of the home and is underpinning the mortgage. Therefore the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Personal Debt (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: The issue of reforming the bankruptcy laws is fairly recent. The former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, brought in legislation reducing the period from 12 to three years. At the time, the three-year period was not picked arbitrarily. Other options were considered, including the one-year option which is now the norm in Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, there has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Data (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Deputy for his question. The Consumer Protection Code and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, CCMA, have in place a number of measures to protect financial consumers. On a general level, regulated lenders are required, in their interaction with their customers, to act honestly, fairly and professionally in the best interests of their customers. Utilising the mortgage...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Data (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I will outline the remainder of the reply which I did not have time to read. In relation to the proposal suggested by the Deputy, I am not convinced how workable a solution it may be, but it appears to be the case that many of the properties that banks are moving to repossess have been carrying arrears for some significant period and would be sold for a lower valuation than the original...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Data (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy is expressing a very narrow view of profitability. It seems to me that if a lending institution has a mortgage in arrears, for the period of the arrears it is losing a lot of money from the original contract position. I am not sure what Deputy Donnelly is saying about profits. The restructuring should help both parties, the borrower and the lender, and it should arrive at a new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Data (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: -----not the nominal value of the mortgage.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Budget Issues (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: From 2016, the public finances in Ireland will be subject to the rules of the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. Assessment of compliance with the rules of the preventive arm is based on two pillars, the annual improvement in the structural balance and the expenditure benchmark. The expenditure benchmark links growth in expenditure to the potential growth rate of the economy....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Budget Issues (1 Apr 2015)

Michael Noonan: I want to make it clear that I and the Government believe in the rules that stem from the Stability and Growth Pact. The issue is that when rules are applied to give bizarre or peculiar results, the application of the rules needs to be examined. For example, technical people in the European Commission looking at migration patterns from 2008 for three years or so, when migration was very...