Results 23,301-23,320 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to make it available to the Oireachtas in advance of the debate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We will have a Cabinet discussion on it this afternoon. At this point in time, I cannot say. As I have said on a number of occasions recently, our estimate on the so-called fiscal space for next year is broadly unchanged from a number of months ago. It is a matter that can change at any point during the year. We will be having an assessment of this matter during the summer and I will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I disagree with the Deputy on a number of points. Due to the openness of our economy and the number of moving parts within it, any form of a change can have an effect on resources that are available next year. An increase from €5 to €6, for the sake of argument, is not a big percentage change but can have quite an effect on the discussions that I have with colleagues. I want...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The first time in which the new approach was tested, at least in this year, was in Spain rather than Italy. At that point, a merger took place between two very significant banks which did not involve the use of Spanish taxpayers' money. That is Banco Popular. The Deputy is correct to say the Italian-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No, there were enough in junior bondholders.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The point I am making about the situation in Spain is that a significant retail bank which was managed under the single supervisory mechanism was involved in a merger and the management of risk happened without the contagion effect within the Spanish or European economy that was the norm a number of years ago. The Deputy is correct when he says Italian taxpayers' money was used in dealing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I take a different view. If what happened recently in Spain and Italy had had happened in the eurozone a number of years ago, particularly during and in the aftermath of the crisis, we would be dealing with how banks elsewhere in the eurozone were affected, but we are not dealing with such issues. The fact that this has not happened - we have seen the resolution of two national banking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government and its predecessor have overseen an improvement in the value of non-performing loans. The rate of change has been extraordinary by European standards. The value of non-performing loans decreased by approximately €10 billion in 2016 alone. A reduction of €10 billion was achieved in a single year. The rate of improvement, by comparison with where we were at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No, I am not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I would never advocate "more of the same" just for the sake of it. We will continue our policies if they work. The evidence on the progress we have made in dealing with non-performing loans is very positive. We want to keep at it. I will give the Senator a concrete example. The Central Bank has noted that since the peak in June 2013, approximately 120,000 private mortgages have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I expect so, particularly for businesses, but it will vary on a business by business basis. Businesses have reached agreements with banks that have reduced the nominal value of debts, agreed to the making of repayments over longer periods of time and to the repayment of lower levels of debt in response for being treated better in other ways. All of this will vary, depending on the bank and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I have just provided figures which show that there has been a very significant reduction the value of in non-performing loans. The rate of reduction is particularly fast by European standards. I did not get a chance to answer the Senator's final question about private equity firms because I was dealing with her point about where we were with mortgages. At the end of June 2016, private...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a matter for the banks. I have asked my team to give me the most up-to-date figures available to us. The figures I have just provided are the most up-to-date available to me. I mention them because the starting point - the number of loans private equity firms have in the State which relate to units in which people actually live - is much lower than some indicate, but the position...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: They will not be unregulated by virtue of this legislation. They are regulated in this way. I am using the phrase "private equity firms". I will keep a close eye on how these companies and units operate because I want to ensure they are respecting their commitments to people. The loans to which we are referring are contingent on what happens to people's homes, of which I am always aware....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I never said I was not concerned. In fact, I said the very opposite. I indicated that I was keenly aware that somebody's home was the backup for his or her loan. I understand that. I have dealt with as many people as the Senator who are in intense mortgage distress or living in a property the ownership of which is changing. I am as aware as anybody else in the House of the human face of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Senator for her encouragement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the questions about dealing with the level of arrears and potential repossessions, for 15 consecutive quarters the level of mortgage arrears has come down. We want to do all we reasonably can to ensure people stay in their homes or properties. The number of repossessions was unchanged in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Lest there be any risk my comments will be misinterpreted by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We are legally obliged to respond to the objectives set within the country specific recommendation. The Government has latitude in deciding how we should do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: ECOFIN Meeting: Minister for Finance (6 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Our mid-term fiscal forecasts have been endorsed by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council as being inside the range of what it judges to be permissible and realistic. The ESRI is an independent body which offers its views on how the Department, the Government and the economy are performing and I respect them. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council assesses whether our fiscal forecasts are inside a...