Results 3,801-3,820 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget Targets (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Summer Economic Statement (SES) was published earlier this week and is currently being debated in the Oireachtas. The fiscal forecast contained in the SES has been updated for a number of budgetary developments.  Since publication of the 2016 Stability Programme Update, the allocation for voted expenditure has increased by €540 million. This allows for an...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Inflation Rate (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: My Department continues monitoring a wide range of indicators to assess inflationary pressures in the Irish economy. Overall, inflation rates continue to be low. The most recent data published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on June 9thshows that inflation has been relatively muted over the past year. The the annual rate of inflation, as measured by their harmonized index of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Recent indicators have generally been very positive, indicating the economic recovery is continuing in a sustainable manner. In the Stability Programme Update, published at the end of April, my Department forecast that the economy would grow by 4.9 per cent in 2016 and by 3.9 per cent in 2017. Furthermore, over the remainder of the forecast horizon out to 2021, growth rates are forecast to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Housing Issues (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: A number of measures have already been implemented to help address the underlying supply constraints in the housing market, either directly by my Department or by the agencies under the auspices of my Department. One such measure was the €500 million Activate Capital joint venture between ISIF and KKR to make funding available to the house building sector. Another key measure was...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: House Prices (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank, which has an independent mandate to preserve and protect financial stability, introduced mortgage lending regulations to increase the resilience of the banking and household sectors to the property market and to reduce the risk of bank credit and house price spirals from developing in the future. The current Central Bank residential mortgage lending regulations has regard...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Loan Books Purchasers (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act, 2015 was enacted on 8 July 2015. It was introduced to fill the consumer protection gap where loans were sold by the original lender to an unregulated entity. The 2015 Act introduced a regulatory regime for a new type of entity called a 'credit servicing firm'. Credit Servicing Firms are now...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: Substantial progress has been made in improving Ireland's competitiveness in recent years. The latest figures from Eurostat, the statistics arm of the European Commission, estimated that nominal unit labour costs (a widely used measure of competitiveness internationally) in Ireland declined by 4.2 per cent annually in 2015. This is the largest decline across all EU Member States for which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: UK Referendum on EU Membership (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Government's position on developments in relation to British membership of the EU has been clearly articulated, in particular by the Taoiseach and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade: we very much want the UK to remain an integral member of the Union. This is important for both our economy and the ongoing development of the excellent bilateral relations Ireland and the UK now...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, the issue of variable rates in Ireland is a matter which I have been concerned about for some time. Last year I requested a report on the issue from the Central Bank. The Report entitled, 'Influences on Standard Variable Mortgage Pricing in Ireland' was subsequently published on the Department's website and is available here: . This research identified three...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Regulation (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I have been advised by the Central Bank that Lifetime Loans are regarded as a niche product and they have not been provided in the Irish market for a number of years. Loans of approximately €640 million to around 6,500 customers are currently outstanding. The Consumer Protection Code 2006 and the Consumer Protection Code 2012 contain a number of provisions regarding the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Enforcement Actions (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy's questions refer to an Enforcement Investigation by the Central Bank of Ireland ("CBI") into permanent tsb ("PTSB").  This Investigation relates to the circumstances in which the bank did not allow certain customers to move to or to return to a tracker rate mortgage at the end of a fixed rate term.  I am informed by PTSB that this investigation is continuing. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Data (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: First, I would like to highlight to the Deputy that the Central Bank's Code of Conduct on the Switching of Current Accounts with Credit Institutions provides a robust, time bound process for the switching of a current account from one credit institution to another. In November 2015 the Central Bank published a report, the Consumer Protection Bulletin on Current Accounts, showing the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Data (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Central Bank published the Application Form and Explanatory Note to retain individual members' savings in excess of €100,000, which were held at commencement of the Regulations, on 16 May 2016. As set out in the application form (Appendix 2 - Additional Notes), the timeline for these applications to be submitted to the Central Bank is between 17 May 2016 and 27 June...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pension Fund Fees (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I take it that the Deputy is referring to the facility available under the Standard Fund Threshold (SFT) regime whereby individuals can seek a Personal Fund Threshold (PFT) in certain circumstances. The Standard Fund Threshold (SFT) is the maximum allowable pension fund on retirement for tax purposes. Its purpose is to discourage over-funding and over-accrual of pension benefits through...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the total amount of revenue generated for the Exchequer in each of the past five years from Excise and VAT on Alcohol is as shown in the following table. Information regarding the sale of alcohol either on or off premises is not available. Excise duty is collected on the release of product from bond rather than at point of sale. In addition,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Meetings (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will appreciate that as part of our remit on tackling the issue of mortgage arrears and consumer protection issues my officials and I regularly meet with relevant stakeholders. Based on a reasonable search of the material available in my Department in respect of meetings held with the main consumer advocacy groups, the following list sets out the meetings held.  These...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: The yield from exit tax paid on life assurance policies, in each year from 2008 to 2015 is as follows: Year Amount €m 2008 89.9 2009 50.7 2010 31.2 2011 43.0 2012 43.4 2013 58.7 2014 129.9 2015 247.2 The tax applies on the happening of a chargeable event. A chargeable event would include the maturity or surrender of a life policy or the ending of each 8-year period beginning...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Deposit Guarantee Scheme (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: As previously outlined to the Deputy in my answer to Parliamentary Question No. 108 on 16th June 2016, Anglo Irish Bank was nationalised on 15 January 2009 and on that date the Minister for Finance acquired all of the ordinary and preference share capital by virtue of the provisions of the Anglo Irish Bank Act 2009, therefore, as of that date, the ownership of the shares in Anglo Irish Bank...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Documents Issuance (23 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that, based on the most up to date information available to them, the person concerned was not due to be issued with a P45. If the person concerned has concerns as regards the accuracy of Revenue's information or about the payment of contributions on her behalf, she should contact her local Revenue District.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (22 Jun 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by Revenue that it has made contact with the body in question on a number of occasions, the most recent being on 9 June 2016, requesting additional information in support of its application for charitable tax exemption. To date the body has not provided the level of information requested, which is delaying a final decision on the issue. To advance matters, it should contact...