Results 881-900 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Other Questions: Brexit Issues (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: Our contribution to the EU budget is calculated on our GDP, as calculated by EUROSTAT. The modifications suggested by the committee under the Governor of the Central Bank to have a more transparent domestic set of numbers which would not have built in the impact of the on-shoring of IT, which ran into the GDP figures, would not be taken into account for calculations on the EU budget. The...

Other Questions: Brexit Issues (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: There are estimates generated in Brussels that would be at the higher end of the range. These are rejected and refuted by the UK authorities. Where it will land, I could not even guess at this stage. On the new methodology, as advised by the committee on Irish statistics, the intention is not to change the statistical base for our international calculations, as with the EU budget. The...

Other Questions: Employment Rights (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: When the Deputy was Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, she and I, as Minister for Finance, launched a consultation process on the use of intermediary-type employment structures and self-employment arrangements, in addition to their impact on tax and PRSI. She will recall also that the consultation invited submissions from interested parties on possible measures to address the...

Other Questions: State Banking Sector Regulation (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The strength of Deputy Doherty's advocacy and the fact that he puts information that is incorrect on the record does not make his arguments correct. I have always said that I have certain responsibilities for NAMA. I have those responsibilities for NAMA which are enshrined in the NAMA Act as enacted by the Houses of the Oireachtas. That legislation provides a role for the Minister for...

Other Questions: State Banking Sector Regulation (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I know. I think the Deputy should declare an interest rather than act here as a neutral observer commenting for the public good. Let us be fair. The Deputy is a great man to make assertions under privilege.

Other Questions: State Banking Sector Regulation (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy is a great man to make assertions under privilege but it is true that he has an interest and he should declare that interest and then we would all know where we stand.

Other Questions: Property Tax Exemptions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The local property tax, LPT, exemption is intended to apply to those properties that have a significant level of pyrite damage. While this means that not all properties that are affected by pyrite are eligible for the exemption, it is accepted that the presence of pyrite, whether it has already caused structural damage to a property or has the potential to cause such damage, will have a...

Other Questions: Property Tax Exemptions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I said that I was not prepared to introduce further legislation to change the current legislative parameters but I think progress can be made administratively. As I said in my reply to Deputy Daly, if a property owner believes that the valuation band selected on the valuation date of 1 May 2013 did not take account of the existence of pyrite then he or she should make contact with Revenue to...

Other Questions: Property Tax Exemptions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I understand the point the Deputy makes. If there is an administrative road block preventing what I expect to occur from occurring I will speak to the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners with a view to having it remediated at an administrative level.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: It is untrue to state the banks will not write off part of the money owed. They will do so but only on a case by case basis as opposed to a universal or across the line basis. People who are in difficulty should engage with their bank with the help of the best advice available or an insolvency practitioner. As I indicated, 121,000 mortgages have been restructured, of which 88% are standing...

Other Questions: State Banking Sector Regulation (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, non-performing loans remain at an elevated level across the European banking system and addressing this issue is one of the key priorities for the Single Supervisory Mechanism, SSM. In Ireland, significant progress has been made across the banking sector in reducing the level of non-performing loans since the financial crisis. Despite this progress, the level of such...

Other Questions: State Banking Sector Regulation (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy is incorrect in his assertion that the Consumer Protection Act is ineffective. Under the Consumer Protection Act 2015, relevant borrowers whose loans are sold to third parties maintain the same regulatory protections they had prior to the sale, including under the various statutory codes, such as the consumer protection code and the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, issued by...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Credit Unions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I do not disagree with the Deputy's policy position in principle, but there is a risk and it must be ensured that it does not affect deposits. Over the past number of years, we can count on the fingers of both hands the number of credit unions that went under. Supposing that the credit union movement was mortgage lending from, say, 2008 on, how would it be fixed now given all the impaired...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy will be aware that A Programme for a Partnership Government and the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness set out the Government's priorities in relation to dealing with mortgage arrears.  The Deputy will also be aware of concerted efforts by the previous Government to resolve the mortgage arrears issue over a number of years, including revision of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I have great sympathy for anyone in the circumstances outlined by the Deputy but I do not have the information she has so I cannot comment in detail on the case. What I know from the general principle is that the banks engage and that they have restructured 121,000 mortgages, which is proof of their engagement. They are making significant progress and for 13 consecutive quarters the number...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Tracker Mortgage Data (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: There are four questions. In response to Deputy Doherty, the Central Bank, unlike Government Departments, decides on its staff complement and can increase it if it feels it is necessary to do so in order to fulfil its legal requirements. Given that it is a bank, it is very well funded. Each year it transfers a lot of excess profits to the Exchequer. Funding extra staff is not a problem. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Credit Unions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: My role as Minister for Finance is to ensure that the legal framework for credit unions is appropriate for the effective operation and supervision of credit unions. The Registrar of Credit Unions at the Central Bank is the independent regulator for credit unions. Within her independent regulatory discretion, the registrar acts to support the prudential soundness of individual credit...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Credit Unions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The absolute priority for me with regard to the credit union movement is that members' deposits are safe and the risk of lending does not undermine members' deposits. I also believe that as the work of credit unions progresses and they move away from the threat of impairment in many cases to being active in the market again, the possibility of more extensive mortgage lending is not contrary...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Tracker Mortgage Data (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: I thought my answer was pretty full. To answer Deputy Doherty's question, specific timelines have been set for all lenders to complete their internal reviews. It is the most significant supervisory review undertaken in the context of the Central Bank's consumer protection remit. I assume, from the various answers I have given here, that when the Central Bank probed the matter, it found it...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Government's policy position is clear. We want to continue with the invisible Border as it is now or to put it another way, we do not want any hard Border reimposed between ourselves and Northern Ireland. What I described in committee was not anything that would happen or is happening on the Border. I described how goods from third countries under WTO rules are now treated at the point...