Results 24,901-24,920 of 34,745 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: I did not think people appreciated that point. The witness gave a figure of an extra 0.4%. Is this 0.4% of the €60 billion in spending? Is that the €140 million?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: On page 27, okay. I direct the witness to his own chart No. 13 where it is stated that the SME credit growth is strengthening. That intrigued me. What does the witness mean by SME? Is that based on the number of employees in an organisation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Do these figures for SMEs include big aircraft leasing companies that might have only a small number of employees?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: So who is this credit growth from? Is it from the Irish banks to the SMEs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: That is a fair point from Deputy Rabbitte. From what Mr. McCarthy has said about the SME credit growth, it might indicate that there is other lending to the SME sector that is not captured in the Central Bank figures if it is only looking at regulated figures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Is the Central Bank looking only at lending by domestic institutions, or is it looking at lending by other institutions into Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: That is not the full picture at all.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: There is, however, no caveat to say that in the figures. The other point I wish to make is that the SMEs produce figures to show that the bulk of the increase in lending has been in the form of very large loans to the bigger SMEs rather than the smaller SMEs. Where is the Department of Finance on the demographic factors in respect of its forecasts for this year? Or is it able to give an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. McCarthy indicate this deficit in monetary terms?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Can the committee hear that in monetary terms?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: So, €4.6 billion is the projected deficit for-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Can the witness indicate if we are ahead of that at the moment, based on revenue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: If there is a lower deficit in 2015 does this mean a reduction in the deficit of 0.5% next year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: Would it be easier to achieve a deficit in 2016 if the deficit is higher this year, for example, if there was a splurge of money spent before the end of 2015? We would be making life more difficult for ourselves in 2016 if we had a small deficit this year, so there is a-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: What is the structural deficit for this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: I thank the witness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Macroeconomic Forecast for 2016: Department of Finance (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: In the context of the framework for the forthcoming budget and changes to the new national fiscal framework, now that we have entered the preventative arm of the pact, one of the key rules is expenditure benchmark, which will allow expenditure to grow only with reference to potential GDP within the context of the medium-term economic strategy. That was based on a ten-year rolling figure up...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (6 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: 630. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if adequate funding will be provided to complete a project (details supplied) in County Laois; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34010/15]

Other Questions: Flood Risk Assessments (1 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: 11. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the catchment flood risk assessment and management studies; when they will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33416/15]

Other Questions: Flood Risk Assessments (1 Oct 2015)

Seán Fleming: I wish to ask the Minister the status of the catchment flood risk assessment and management studies, when the plans will be implemented and if he will make a statement on the matter.