Results 10,821-10,840 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: We are following a taxation policy which we clearly stated during the election campaign and reaffirmed in the programme for Government. We think income tax is a tax on jobs, and if we were to identify one of the big problems in the country it is the level of employment. If one taxes something one gets less of it and if one relieves tax on something one gets more of it. We are not loading...

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: There is only one thing more mobile than labour is capital, which moves in and out of a small country like Ireland. Labour is also very mobile. Young people, particularly young college graduates, up and leave.

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: If income tax is raised much more there will be a problem. I do not know whether the Deputy is following the debate in the newspapers on young doctors and the number of them leaving the country. Somebody I know personally is relocating to Perth, where she will earn double the money and pay half the tax. Why would one not go? We must look at international comparisons. We cannot act as if...

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: -----because companies would not be able to get young electronic engineers. There are relativities which need to be examined.

Other Questions: Mortgage Schemes (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Government recently launched "Construction 2020: A strategy for a renewed construction sector". The strategy includes the Government's desire for a return to sustainable levels of mortgage lending as part of a healthy housing market. This involves the consideration of measures to stimulate the development of housing. For developers to be supported, they need confidence that...

Other Questions: Mortgage Schemes (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: My position has not changed since the policy document on the construction industry was published. There were 72 proposals in that document and this was one of them. It was criticised by some people who had not even read the proposal and did not understand it. They had no idea what I had in mind. However, there is nothing new about that. I heard a debate between two so-called experts on...

Other Questions: Mortgage Schemes (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: I think it does. Some of these people think they are gurus.

Other Questions: Mortgage Schemes (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: Experts are experts, but many experts are not experts at all. They are experts in one area of activity which they have studied, and they think that gives them the right to pronounce on other areas of activity about which they know very little. Many experts in Ireland are like that. I am prepared to discuss it, perhaps at the finance committee. It is a simple idea and it either works or...

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: If I get a tenable example, I will examine it with a view to amendment.

Other Questions: Banks Recapitalisation (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, the euro area Heads of State or Government, HoSG, agreed in June 2012 that "it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns", and that when a single supervisory mechanism, involving the European Central Bank, ECB, is in place and operational, the ESM, could recapitalise banks directly. On 10 June 2014, the euro area member states reached a...

Other Questions: Banks Recapitalisation (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy and his Fianna Fáil colleagues are like the arsonist who set fire to the building and blames the fire brigade for not putting it out fast enough. That is the position into which they have argued themselves. We would not have to address these issues were it not for decisions taken by a Government in which the Deputy participated. I do not want to recite the history. While...

Other Questions: Banks Recapitalisation (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am not in the fortune telling business. I laid out for the Deputy what the agreement was in Europe. While there is an agreement that the particular instrument required will be put in place by November, it is qualified because it is subject to ratification by the member states. Some of them can ratify it by a Minister signing an order while others must go through a parliamentary process....

Other Questions: Banks Recapitalisation (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: Within the Department of Finance we have a finance unit which looks after the State's assets across the system, which are in the control of the Department of Finance, particularly the State's holdings in the different banks. When one thinks through the recapitalisation retroactive option, it was always envisaged that there would be some form of exchange of shares in the banks for capital...

Other Questions: NAMA Code of Conduct (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: In early 2013, the NTMA chief executive committed to a review of NTMA policy in respect of notice periods and post-termination restrictions on employment. Accordingly, the law firm Matheson was engaged by the NTMA to: advise on market norms in the private sector in terms of notice periods and post-termination restrictions; assess the adequacy of the protections in the current NTMA employment...

Other Questions: NAMA Code of Conduct (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: There is an issue here. It is an issue in general terms of a level of principle, which is an issue of concern although I have no practical example of where that concern was manifested by a person doing anything untoward. It is also true, as the Deputy remarked, that contracts are not retrospectively applied, unless by agreement. A person's contract of employment is just that and the rules...

Other Questions: NAMA Code of Conduct (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: Perhaps the issue could be raised with NAMA when it next appears before the finance committee. A great deal of progress has been made on finding a solution but I would welcome further discussion on the issue.

Other Questions: NAMA Code of Conduct (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: We will revisit the issue. We know from practice elsewhere that there are not unlimited options. One proposal is to provide that a person cannot do anything for six or 12 months. However, the person is then entitled to full salary for that period. All of this is covered under the gardening leave provision. Another proposal is that in respect of companies whose end is foreseeable, such as...

Other Questions: Tax Code (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: In my reply to a previous question from the Deputy in April last, I said that the conditions which must be met for the higher tax-free threshold of €225,000 to apply in the case gifts or inheritances taken by a foster child are set out in legislation. I understand the Deputy is referring to the requirement that, in the case of gifts to formally fostered children and gifts and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy misunderstands my position. He asked a precise question about how long the investigation process into Apple, initiated by Commissioner Almunia and his staff, would take. I gave the Deputy a timeline on that. That does not mean the Irish authorities will stand idly by and wait until the end of the process before doing anything. In last year's Finance Bill we took the first step...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Banking Sector (3 Jul 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is important in answering the Deputy's question to provide the background as to why Bank of Ireland has agreed to sell €250 million of the ICS loan book to Dilosk Limited. In July 2013, Bank of Ireland agreed an amendment to its restructuring plan which had been agreed with the European Commission in respect of state aid received by the bank. This allowed the bank to retain its...