Results 11,041-11,060 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: If Europe operates according to the timetable announced, the mechanism should be in place by the end of November. Any time after that it is a matter of judgment. There is no mechanism at present to which we can apply but anytime after that it is a question of political judgment and Government decision.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: I will review the technical note in case my memory fails me. In order for a resolution fund to be able to operate it has to be financed appropriately by the institutions which may potentially benefit from it. In this regard both the bank resolution and recovery directive, BRRD, and the single resolution mechanism, SRM, established target levels that must be reached within a prescribed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: I referred to 2024. It is building up over a long period. I do not think that was the answer the Acting Chairman was seeking. That is more for the resolution fund.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: I referred to the resolution fund under the banking union. That is separate from the ESM.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: The ESM funds are already committed, and it is a question of putting them in place. This will partly be done through direct capital input by member states and much of it will be by guarantee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: No, the application can be made after November if the Union meets its timeline.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: There is low inflation in the European Union.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: Deflation occurs if prices drop below zero but prices are still rising. The best way to consider the matter is that the mission statement of the European Central Bank is to keep inflation near to but less than 2%. It is well shy of that figure at present. There are benefits from low inflation because it reduces the cost base but it also reduces economic activity. In our case, budgets are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: Absolutely. Not only was a statement made in the communiqué from the June 2012 meeting of heads of state and government but Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande also reaffirmed the commitment in bilateral meetings with the Taoiseach, as confirmed in the statements issued subsequent to those meetings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: The debt is just north of €203 billion. Approximately €40 billion of that figure is bank debt and, when one takes all the swings and roundabouts into account, the cost of that portion is a shade less than €1 billion. The gross cost is €1.6 billion but 80% of the coupon we pay on the Irish paper held by the Central Bank comes back the following year as excess...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: That is the foundation stone on which we rest our case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: No, we get advice from various international organisations periodically. I always take them seriously but I also know that a different skillset is required for a politician managing a Department than for a technical person in the IMF in Washington or in the Commission. It is not all a cut and dried case of something being possible once it is written out in a programme. One has to bring the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is part of the budgetary process to look at all expenditure heads. They are looked at by my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I think everybody knows that there have been difficulties in health but in a very big budget, the kind of deficits it has run from a percentage point of view are quite small relative to a budget of €13.2 billion. In respect of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: It is a matter for the CSO to come up with the figure. I understand it might do so before the end of this month. It is undertaking two distinct pieces of work. One involves having Ireland's GDP calculation in compliance with the new European rules. In the new European rules, as the Deputy outlined, illegality, the proceeds of crime and various other things can now be brought in for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: GDP at the moment is about €166 billion. The Deputy can do the sums himself. I do not want to give him a false-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: It could be significantly ahead of 1%.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: One is only raising the level of denominator so it does not have the big effect the Deputy thinks of.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: I think the Deputy is talking about the impact of the GDP through a growing economy increasing by 1% and the tax that will generate because it has that kind of effect on the budget. This is purely a technical adjustment. There is no growth reflected in this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)

Michael Noonan: Yes. It is smaller but it is still-----