Results 47,441-47,460 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with everything the Taoiseach has just said. It makes perfect sense. The problem is that it does not reflect what is happening. The Taoiseach has said he does not agree with the service level agreements, but they are in place for 12 years. To date, we cannot get a business plan from Irish Water. When we rang them this morning to ask if we could see a business plan, they told us...

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: It looks like Irish households will pay €250 a year to begin with. Factoring in the kinds of exemption the Taoiseach has referred to, approximately €300 million will be raised. Ireland's water infrastructure costs approximately €1.2 billion to run. We know there are a great many inefficiencies in the way it is run currently. There are 33 separate entities involved and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Resolution Processes (16 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: 45. To ask the Minister for Finance in respect of the recent sale of mortgages, by Certus/Bank of Scotland, to Tanager, if these mortgages will be covered by the code of conduct on mortgage arrears; if Tanager will be subject to the Government's targets on offering sustainable solutions to mortgage holders in arrears of 90 days or more; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18177/14]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: The table only goes up to 2018, but it could be 2020 or further out before we start hitting the 1.9% or 2% ECB rate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: A bit of seigniorage might be no bad thing for once. The promissory note is slightly off this but obviously very relevant in terms of borrowing costs and interest paid. There have been some reasonably credible media reports that the ECB is keen to accelerate the sale to market interest rates rather than the subsidised ECB rate of the promissory note bonds. Is the Minister coming under any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: My next point is an observation. The labour market figures contained in the SPU are obviously very welcome. It is fantastic to see the unemployment rate decrease and the numbers at work increase. One of the details hidden in the figures is the difference in the rates for men and women. We all know the unemployment rate for men rocketed owing to the construction bubble. However, one of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: When thinking about the corrections this year, accepting that the rate for men is much higher, the Minister should be cognisant that it has not moved in the right direction at all for women and should consider targeted interventions. One obvious one, which is a bit of a sidebar but would reactivate many women, would be making child care tax deductible or establishing some sort of package on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: To put two children into child care, the person going back to work, usually the mother, has to earn about €45,000 just to get to zero. The Minister might look at that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I recognise the efforts of the Minister and his officials in bringing the draft SPU to the committee with time for us to have an input into it. He says on page 1 that the three pillars of the medium-term economic strategy are competitiveness, credit and public finances. I would love debt resolution to be added to them. It is probably the key driver of economic growth missing from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister. Has he a working estimate for the new policy quantum that is required to hit the target for 2015?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Does the Minister think the new policy measures will amount to €2 billion gross?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: That would be fantastic. The best estimate in this document is new policy packages amounting to approximately €2 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Is that a gross or net figure? Is that before multiplier effects, deflationary effects, etc. are factored in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: The inflation rate projection for this year on page 6 is 0.5% when looking at GDP versus GNP. We are following this lower than ECB target across the eurozone. There are pros and cons to a higher or lower inflation rate. Is there an optimal rate that the Minister would like? Is Ireland, through whatever means, doing anything at the ECB or elsewhere in Europe to push the current eurozone...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: It would be easier for people dealing with debt as well. The table on page 11 refers to a harmonised index inflation level of 0.5% this year, going up to 1.4% or 1.6% in 2018. Is that an acknowledgement or a suggestion that essentially the ECB will not hit the 2% or 1.9% target for many years?

Order of Business (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: What is the position on the promised legislation to extend the code of conduct on mortgage arrears to external entities such as Oaktree Capital and Loan Star? Does the Taoiseach have a date for when the heads of the Bill will be expected before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform?

Written Answers — Department of Finance: IBRC Liquidation (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: 178. To ask the Minister for Finance following the reported sale of €800 million of par value loans by the special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation to an entity linked to a person (details supplied), if will confirm that the sale price achieved for said loans represented the best price offered; and if he will confirm that the price offered by unsuccessful bidders...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: IBRC Liquidation (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: 179. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of debt that was forgiven by the special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation when it sold €800 million of par value loans linked to a person to an entity linked to a person (details supplied). [17563/14]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: IBRC Loans (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: 180. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 59 of 4 March 2014, the total par value of loans covered by the 33 borrower groups that have or will be offered for sale; the total par value of the loans covered by the 33 borrower groups that have been sold to date; and the total sale proceeds that will be received for the loans sold to date. [17564/14]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: IBRC Loans (15 Apr 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: 181. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 59 of 4 March 2014, the total par value of loans covered by the 33 borrower groups that have now been sold to parties who would have been precluded from purchasing the loans; and if section 172 of the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009 had been adopted for the disposal of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation loans....