Results 9,641-9,660 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am answering parliamentary questions in the morning and must prepare for nearly 100 questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: There are many projects in Ireland. Investment is usually for infrastructure projects when it is done by governments. One can divide infrastructure into social and economic infrastructure. The European Investment Bank, EIB, is already very heavily involved in both. For example, it is funding bundles of schools through a public private partnership, PPP. It is funding the provision of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: It will report in December but it is up to individual countries to bring forward their own proposals then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Yes, the general statement by President Juncker when he took over was that the Commission is going to invest and we should get ready. Of course there will also be pan-European projects. One of the major European projects which must be funded is a European energy network to match the roads network across Europe, because the dependency of Europe on outside sources of energy and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: No, but it could be included. For example, the proposal to solve Dublin's water problem by creating a giant reservoir somewhere west of Dublin, perhaps in the Bord na Móna properties west of Dublin, fed by a pipeline from the Shannon, is the kind of project that would be suitable under circumstances for European Investment Bank funding. This proposal has frequently been discussed but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform runs the capital programme. It is also involved with PPPs as an extension to the public capital programme and is in contact with the other Departments, including the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Another issue that is worth investigating is the need for investment at the ports, if the model is export-led...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: The European Investment Bank has given Ireland a good deal of money and in the last couple of years its investment has more than doubled. In 2014 it will be approximately €600 million and I think it envisages it going up to €800 million. That is a very significant input. It provided funds to both AIB and Bank of Ireland. It was around €250 million for SMEs but while...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is the transmission mechanisms into Irish industry that are the issue. The EIB is putting about €400 million into the strategic investment bank fund, which we announced last Friday, and the fund available for 2015 is €800 million. We intend to carry that forward each year for five years so there would be a total of about €4 billion available.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: From our perspective the EIB is very well-disposed towards Ireland and it has proven that by improving the flow of funds to Ireland. It has various programmes and we are accessing those programmes now more fruitfully than in the past. It has projects, for example, where instead of the 50% matching requirement in city regeneration one can get up to 60% where a third-level college is being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is difficult to deal with it if I cannot answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Deputy Donnelly is asking what the result is. I understood his question to be whether there are demonstrable results arising from our extra engagement with the European Investment Bank.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: It has gone from €525 million in 2011 to €1.1 billion in 2013.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: No, I do not think so. We worked it out and it is fairly satisfactory. Does anyone have a note on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: We are not left, we are centre right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: We are in the European People's Party.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: Which European parties does Deputy Murphy regard as left wing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: No, they caused the crash.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: By the way, I would like to make a point. Taking Ireland as an example, private investment in Ireland is plus 14% this year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: That is a very significant increase in private investment in Ireland. It would be nice if we acknowledged that we have the highest growth rates in Europe today, at 4.6% according to the Europeans. We think they are higher than that ourselves. Private investment has gone up and every indicator in Ireland is pointing in the right direction now. We must be doing something right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Noonan: I always consult widely, and when foreign direct investment is concerned the starting point is the IDA. We also consult other Departments that would have an interest. The Clearing House Group would, of course, advise. I also have my own views and I know how it works between Dublin and London. I know the common labour market causes the migration of the essential ingredient of financial...