Results 11,981-12,000 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: One needs to have a plan to build houses.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I remind the Deputy that it is only one year ago since he was equally outraged by the overhang of empty property in the market in Ireland - ghost estates and unfinished apartment blocks.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The recovery has been very strong. We have offered over 4,000 houses through NAMA to local authorities and they are available for them as they want them. NAMA has committed to building 4,000 social houses in Dublin in co-operation with the local authorities.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: NAMA advertised for joint ventures and received the results in the past two weeks. There is huge interest in providing housing in Dublin through joint ventures between NAMA and experienced building companies with the use of foreign finance. NAMA has told me it is very confident that in the next five years or so it can produce 22,500 private houses - family homes - in Dublin. We are getting...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy gets confused with percentages. If a house drops from €300,000 to €200,000, it is a reduction of 33.3% but if the house increases from €200,000 to €300,000 it is an increase of 50%. Moving away from percentages and looking at the actual amount of money by which house prices are rising in Dublin, the prices are still 47% to 50% below where they were at...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: We have been over this ground several times previously, and Deputy Doherty will have an opportunity in committee to go through it on a line-by-line basis with the banks. What I have said to him is that we set targets and in any reasonable process over an extended period of time, once the targets are set by the Central Bank, I am reasonably satisfied if the bank informs us that those targets...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Housing Issues (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: As outlined in the Medium-Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020, the Government continues to work on addressing challenges in the property and construction sectors. This includes the development of an overall strategic approach to housing supply, identifying and implementing further improvements in the planning process to facilitate appropriate development, and seeking to improve financing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: We set targets and I am satisfied that the Central Bank has advised me that the targets are being met. The quantum of permanent restructuring is increasing each quarter. The latest information available to me indicates that 54,000 mortgagees have had proposals for permanent restructuring. That is progress. The details of whether the restructuring holds up when audits are carried out by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I do not set interest rates. The European Central Bank's setting of rates is one of the primary factors in establishing mortgage interest rates and we have no control over that. The action we can take is limited even though, like the Deputy, we foresee the danger. One of the traditional responses would be to compensate through the tax system, but the previous Fianna Fáil Government...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The Government is aware of the significant difficulties some homeowners are facing in meeting their mortgage obligations, and the Deputy will know that a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem is now in place.  A key component of this is the Central Bank mortgage arrears resolution targets - or MART - framework, which set out quarterly performance targets for mortgage arrears...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: Concerns have been very well expressed by the Deputy. Given that the trajectory of interest rates by the European Central Bank is still downwards and with low inflation being the primary concern rather than increasing inflation which would require raised interest rates, it is reasonable to agree with commentators who almost universally expect interest rates to remain low for some time to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy is aware, I have no statutory role in mortgage interest rates charged by regulated financial institutions. It is a commercial matter for the banks concerned. The mortgage interest rates that financial institutions operating in Ireland charge to customers are determined as a result of a commercial decision by the institutions concerned. The general point raised by the Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: At the outset, I must confirm to the Deputy that the lending institutions in Ireland, including those in which the State has a significant shareholding, are independent commercial entities and, as such, it is a commercial decision for each lender to decide what interest rates they charge customers in relation to standard variable mortgages. Ultimately the pricing of financial products,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Meetings (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: European Finance Ministers met recently in Athens as part of the Greek Presidency.  The Eurogroup (a meeting of the Finance Ministers of the 18 Eurozone countries) met first on the morning of 1st April chaired by the President of the Eurogroup and Dutch Finance Minister, Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem.  The second meeting was an Informal Ecofin meeting of the 28 members...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Household Debt Statistics (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: Total household 'on balance sheet' outstanding loan amounts fell to €106 billion in February 2014, comprising 78 per cent loans for house purchase with the remainder relating to consumer credit and other loans. Aggregate household indebtedness has been declining in Ireland over the last number of years, both in nominal terms and as a share of household income. To a certain extent...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tobacco Seizures (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that almost 41 million cigarettes and over 4,200 kilograms of tobacco were seized by them in 2013 as a result of their extensive programme of action against the illicit tobacco trade. The quantity of cigarettes seized in 2013 was lower than in 2012 and 2011, when seizures amounted to 95.6 million and 109.1 million respectively. It must, be borne in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: The experience of the financial crisis has discredited 'light touch' regulation. The response of the Government to the regulatory failures identified in the reports by Governor Patrick Honohan, Messrs. Regling and Watson and the Nyberg Commission has been to put in place a system of robust regulation, with assertive risk-based supervision underpinned by a credible threat of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: IBRC Investigations (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by NAMA that it does not accept that it will incur any liabilities with respect to any foreign jurisdiction lawsuits and it will defend itself fully with respect to any such litigation. The management of litigation is a matter for the Board of NAMA. I have been advised by the Special Liquidators of IBRC that the bank identified overcharging issues in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: I would like to highlight that the OECD paper, to which the Deputy refers, is a consultation document, which was published to generate discussion and to seek the views of interested parties. The consultation period is open until the middle of this month. I would like to stress that the OECD working group which is examining this issue has still...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU-IMF Programme of Support (8 Apr 2014)

Michael Noonan: As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has met all of its targets to date and has achieved substantial progress in setting the public finances and the economy back on the road to good health and this has been acknowledged by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and most economic commentators.  The Exchequer statement for the first...