Results 1,961-1,980 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Mortgage Arrears: Mortgage Arrears (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, according to figures published by the Central Bank of Ireland on 19 May 2011, 6.3% of private residential mortgage accounts were in arrears for more than 90 days at the end of March 2011. My Department has been informed by the Central Bank that robust estimates of potential losses cannot be extrapolated from the arrears figures as mortgage loss amounts will...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Finance (No. 3) Bill 2011 will be published on Thursday 9 June 2011. It will provide for the necessary taxation changes to the various Taxation Acts arising from the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. I expect the Bill to be enacted before the summer.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new legislation to protect small building subcontractors that have been denied payments from bigger companies. In this regard, the Deputy will be aware that the Construction Contracts Bill 2010 was introduced by Senator Feargal Quinn and passed Committee and remaining Stages in the Seanad on 8 March 2011. It is now before the...

Written Answers — National Anthem: National Anthem (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: Copyright protection in relation to the National Anthem will run out in December 2012. The main purpose of ownership by the State of the copyright to the original version of the National Anthem was to ensure that it was freely available for general use. This situation will remain unchanged on the expiry of the copyright.

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Government recognises that the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is very important to the economy and that public procurement can be an important source of business for SMEs. In this regard, my Department recently issued guidelines addressed to public bodies and aimed at facilitating small and medium-sized enterprises in competing for public procurement opportunities. The...

Written Answers — Banking Sector: Banking Sector (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The information the Deputy has requested is available from the Money and Banking Statistics published by the Central Bank of Ireland and can be accessed at www.centralbank.ie. The Central Bank of Ireland has, however, informed me that the value of deposits from Irish residents and deposits from non-residents at the end of April 2011 is as follows: Month Deposits from Irish Residents...

Written Answers — Credit Unions: Credit Unions (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Government's position with regard to the credit union sector set out in the Programme for National Government 2011-2016 recognises the importance of credit unions as a volunteer co-operative movement and distinguishes between them and other financial institutions. The programme for Government agreed that a Commission on Credit Unions would be established to review the future of the...

Written Answers — Mortgage Arrears: Mortgage Arrears (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware of the work of the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt (the Group) which produced its Final Report in November 2010. All of the Group's recommendations are listed in Chapter 2 of the Final Report. They can be accessed at www.finance.gov.ie. Since publication of the Final Report, the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) has been revised by...

Written Answers — Banks Recapitalisation: Banks Recapitalisation (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: A fundamental element of Government Strategy has been to restore a functioning banking system and the Government has made particular commitments to recapitalising the banks and restructuring the banking sector as part of its Programme for Government. The Prudential Capital Assessment Review in the Central Bank of Ireland's Financial Measures Programme was published on 31 March 2011. The...

Written Answers — Mortgage Arrears: Mortgage Arrears (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware of the work of the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt (the Group) which produced its final report in November 2010. The Group, during the period of its research, could not identify any arrangements internationally that could be characterised as mortgage debt forgiveness schemes, with the exception of parts of the US where non-recourse mortgage lending...

Written Answers — State Assets: State Assets (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: Following the publication of the Report of the Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities in April, my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform requested Government Departments to give their considered views of the proposals set out in the Report. Departments are now reverting with their views. After giving their submissions full consideration, the Minister intends to...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The programme for National Government contains a commitment to "consider, arising from the previous Government's deal with the IMF, various options for a site valuation tax. Any site valuation tax must take into account the significant number of households in mortgage distress and provide local government with a reliable stream of revenue". Initial consultation on the implications of a...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: At the outset the Deputy should note that as Minister for Finance I have had no direct dealings with Liberty Mutual in relation to this transaction including the issue of the future of all existing job-holders. However, I have been informed by the Joint Administrators that aside from the redundancies in Manchester, all the 1570 jobs in Quinn Insurance Ltd (QIL) have been protected for at...

Written Answers — EU-IMF Fund: EU-IMF Fund (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: Following the formal review mission from the European Commission Services, the IMF and the ECB, which took place between 5 and 15 April 2011, the EU/IMF Programme was updated to take account of implementation and developments since the programme was first agreed in November 2010. It was also amended to reflect Government policy priorities. The revisions were approved by Eurogroup on 16 May...

Written Answers — State Assets: State Assets (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The programme for Government provides for the sale of non-strategic assets up to a value of €2 billion. This will occur when market conditions are right and when adequate regulatory structures have been established to protect consumer interests. The recent report of the Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities cautions against hastiness in selling such assets. On foot of the report,...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: The question of Ireland's corporation tax rate is an entirely separate matter to the appointment of a new head of the IMF. The Government's position on our corporation tax strategy is unambiguous and it is not at risk. The programme for Government clearly states that the Government will 'keep the corporate tax rate at 12.5%' and that commitment is protected, in an EU context, by the...

Written Answers — Company Administration: Company Administration (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: At the outset you should be aware that the sale of the QIL business is a matter for the Joint Administrators. It is important to be clear that neither I as Minister for Finance nor the Government had any input into the decision to select Liberty Mutual/Anglo as the preferred bidder. In relation to what consideration was given to the Quinn proposals to re-establish Quinn ownership, the Joint...

Written Answers — Tax Reliefs: Tax Reliefs (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: I assume the Deputy is referring to the ESRI report entitled "Pension Policy: New Evidence on Key Issues" which was published in November 2009. I am not in a position to question the data on which the Report based its findings. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a breakdown of official data on contributions to pension saving arrangements across income ranges is available only to...

Written Answers — Banks Restructuring: Banks Restructuring (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, a profound restructuring of the Irish banking system is underway. The two most distressed institutions in the market – Anglo and INBS – are being merged and their remaining loans will be worked out over an extended period of time. Under the Government's strategy for reorganising the Irish banking system and consistent with the terms of the EU/ IMF Programme...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (7 Jun 2011)

Michael Noonan: I take the view that there is scope for the pension fund industry to absorb the impact of the temporary pension scheme levy by way of a reduction in the fees and charges made on those schemes. I have made that clear in this House and I have conveyed that view to representatives of the pension fund industry at face-to-face meetings. I have also written to the main representative organisations...