Results 3,621-3,640 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes, I believe the unit does a good job. As need arises, and if anything happens now as a result of Brexit, there is no reason we cannot add to the numbers. At present, my advice is that there are sufficient numbers and that the unit is resourced sufficiently to carry out adequately the job it is supposed to carry out.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I will have to revert to the Deputy with a breakdown on those.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Nothing has crossed my desk. We have an EU services division, which represents the international aspect. It is headed by a principal officer. There is that differentiation internally.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: We will do that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes, it is likely there will be some reduction in 2018, but I could not go beyond making that kind of general comment until we see what the new arrangement is likely to be. If it plays towards us rather than against us, there may be a very marginal effect on the fiscal space. It is another moving part that has to be taken into account in forecasts. However, even if there were never a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The way it was approached was that the work was done in the spring economic statement on the basis of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union. Then there were forecast data available as to the downside if the United Kingdom were to leave the European Union. As the Deputy knows, there is a page in the summer economic statement setting out the risk and how it would diminish growth...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The answer in terms of economic activity and achieving full employment and a balanced budget and resources even for a rainy day fund is "Yes" but that is not to say that the fiscal space for future budgets, apart from the forthcoming one, might narrow. It is difficult to predict because it is only one of a number of what I would call moving parts. I have great respect for my forecasting...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: There is no point in us running a set of figures if we cannot stand over them. What I am saying is that we are fairly certain regarding what we have. We have put in the data about the adverse effect of Brexit and we will have a new set of figures in the autumn to inform our budgetary position. Things should have been clarified, at least politically in the UK, the negotiations with the EU...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: First of all, it is a contingency fund and a contingency fund is unallocated resources that are to be deployed if the unexpected happens. The unexpected has happened and we are lucky we had not allocated all of this for spending purposes because we would be into reversal very quickly. The principle of establishing a rainy day fund remains but on current information, it will be a figure of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Good.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Yes, first of all it is not a case that is being pursued on tax grounds. It is being pursued on State aid grounds and that is why the Competition Commissioner is driving the process. Other cases were taken against companies in Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium and in all cases adverse conclusions were drawn and an amount of arrears was described in the adjudication, and I think they...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Many members present were involved in the banking inquiry, and there were several other third party inquiries, and all of them came to the conclusion that if we had operated countercyclical economic policies it would have been of great benefit during the crisis. In their simplest terms, countercyclical policies, as Deputies are aware-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: One does not overheat an economy that is growing very strongly and one does not tax and cut in an economy that is in decline. Everybody knew the theory. It was not because they did not understand the theory, it was because they had no resources. What I am saying now is let us have a fund for the first time where there are resources for countercyclical intervention. The thinking has gone...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The issue is not to spend everything upfront just because we have it, but to get away from the boom and bust and if I have it I will spend it theories. The way the world is changing so fast, Deputy Murphy could very well be the man deploying it so he should not paint himself into a corner now.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: First, the Revenue discusses these matters with the Department of Finance and, usually, unless there are extravagant demands, it gets what it looks for. It needed funding on this occasion to hire extra staff and it has been hiring extra staff. In 2015, for example, it got 126 extra staff made up of 56 in compliance, 50 on local property tax and 20 for the international tax. There is an...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has the resource that it requests. The former Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts would have a view on that. I am not adverse to considering a submission because I am aware that there are commentators who think that the range of powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General should be widened somewhat.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I thank all the members of the committee. We had a pretty good discussion this morning. Shortage of time is always an enemy of discussion, but I am not averse to coming back whenever the committee decides to discuss any of the issues. The SME position is improving. The data in my speech comes from the surveys carried out by RED C, the polling organisation. A total of 1,500 SMEs were...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: We have a funding problem. We need decisions so that money can be drawn down.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister of Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: If members really want a session next week, that can be facilitated, but there is the rule that one cannot spend more than 80% of the Estimate, unless the Parliament has endorsed it, and we are running very close to the line.