Results 13,861-13,880 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Government Decision on Exiting Programme of Financial Support: Motion (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I move:That Dáil Éireann endorses the Government’s decision to exit the EU/IMF programme of financial support in December without applying for a precautionary credit line.I am delighted to give Deputies on all sides of the House the opportunity now to vote to exit the EU and IMF programme of financial support. Voting in favour of exiting the programme indicates we have the...

Other Questions: Strategic Investment Bank Establishment (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The strategic investment fund which will be underpinned by statute early next year is operational under letters of comfort I have provided. The fund is providing moneys and supporting, on a joint partnership basis, various funds for SMEs. It is involved in investment in the economy. The big difference between a strategic investment fund and a strategic investment bank is that if it is...

Other Questions: Strategic Investment Bank Establishment (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Two issues are running in parallel on the ECOFIN agenda. One is having a hierarchy of measures to resolve capital discrepancies that appear in banks across Europe as a result of the stress testing in the autumn. That is one distinct item of work and was agreed to. The papers are available and Members can see the agreement. The second piece is a more permanent bail-in resolution mechanism...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Available data for the year to date to the end of quarter 2 show GDP has fallen by 1.1%, while employment has grown by 1.5% in the same period. This implies negative productivity growth relative to the same period last year. While quarterly data in Ireland are volatile, my Department is nonetheless projecting a fall in labour productivity this year. This is a somewhat unusual development....

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The CSO produces the figures; I do not make them up. They are based on the statistics from labour force surveys and are real jobs. What was interesting over the summer was that a movement creating part-time jobs had led to a movement creating full-time jobs. More full-time jobs are now being created than part-time jobs. Extra jobs are being created. The anomaly is that normally...

Other Questions: Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The case to which the Deputy referred is No. 010/2013, White v. the Central Bank of Ireland. IFSAT, which is responsible for processing the appeal, is independent in the exercise of its functions and it would not be proper for me to comment on a particular case. I understand, however, that the case is being processed and the written judgment will be available soon. The appeal has not been...

Other Questions: Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I await the report with interest, but the primary objective was to protect the savings of the members of Newbridge Credit Union. It was a close-run thing. We were within a week of the credit union's being forced into liquidation and there was no other option left. I am grateful to Permanent TSB. It had no commercial interest in the matter but it intervened because we asked it to save the...

Other Questions: Strategic Investment Bank Establishment (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: This Government has been working hard to create an environment conducive to new entrants through a number of initiatives and has been leading the debate at EU level on the mechanisms to promote alternatives to bank financing. While it is disappointing that ACC and Danske Bank have taken the decision to withdraw from the Irish market, one of the key features of banking strategy in the...

Other Questions: Property Taxation Administration (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: We always intended, as a kind of incentive to the property market, that those who bought houses in 2013 would be exempt from property tax, but there was an error in the drafting of the Bill which was brought to my attention last spring. Rather than announce something that might adversely affect the property market, particularly in Dublin, which was just about to take off at the time, we said...

Other Questions: NAMA Property Rental (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: NAMA's mandate derives primarily from section 10 of the NAMA Act, which requires it to "obtain the best achievable return for the State" from its acquired loans and the properties securing those loans. As Minister for Finance, I do not intervene in the detail of NAMA's business and I would consider it inappropriate to do so. I would point out that NAMA's remit does not extend to providing...

Other Questions: NAMA Property Rental (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: What I have given Deputy Catherine Murphy is the policy position at a level of principle. However, if there is a property, particularly in her constituency, which she thinks would be suitable for housing small businesses, NAMA will engage, either with the Deputy or with one of the agencies. NAMA is quite open to being constructive. It has a social mandate under the Act and the creating of...

Other Questions: NAMA Property Rental (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: NAMA makes commercial decisions. Its mandate specifically is to have the best return possible for the Irish taxpayer. That means selling at the cost of acquisition or, better, at a profit. NAMA is selling a great deal of property. Its total indebtedness is €30 billion and there is a schedule of repayments. It is obliged to pay 25% of that back by Christmas and it will pay that...

Other Questions: Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal, the appeals tribunal, was established by the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2003. The appeals tribunal is an independent tribunal which will hear and determine appeals from aggrieved parties against certain decisions of the Central Bank of Ireland. The appeals tribunal aims to provide an accessible, efficient and...

Other Questions: EU-IMF Programme of Support Issues (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Anything I communicated to the Deputy in my reply is not new information and arises from the arrangements that have been in Europe. All 18 Eurogroup members are subject to the new rules. The survival of the euro is a close run thing, which has resulted in agreements being made across the eurozone which, in their totality, effectively amount to a fiscal union as well as a currency union....

Other Questions: EU-IMF Programme of Support Issues (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The budget projected the economy will grow by 2% next year. The OECD published growth projections for the eurozone yesterday, which indicated that the Irish economy will grow by 1.9% in 2014. This figure is very close to our budgetary figure and gives us a reasonable degree of optimism that our figures will come in on target.

Other Questions: Property Taxation Administration (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the introduction of the local property tax amounts to the largest ever extension of the self-assessment system and represents a significant administrative challenge. The expenditure report for 2013, which was published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in December last, makes a provision of €25.9 million in 2013 for the...

Other Questions: Property Taxation Administration (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: As all Deputies are aware, the implementation of a property tax was always going to be difficult, especially when it was being resisted by many Deputies and groups in the House and many organised groups outside the House. Nobody ever made light of the task of implementing the tax. Notwithstanding the difficulty in introducing it, when one takes everything into account, the Revenue did a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I previously informed the House that letters threatening repossession or legal action could not, in my opinion, be considered a sustainable solution under the mortgage arrears targets process and should only ever be considered after every possible avenue for a solution had been exhausted. The Governor of the Central Bank has stated any bank proceeding lightly to legal recourse with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Regarding the tracker mortgage issue, officials from the Irish authorities are in regular dialogue with all of the State-supported banks in an effort to enhance stability and facilitate the sector's return to profitability. The long-term profitability of the State-supported banks depends on many variables, of which the impact of tracker mortgages is only one. The Irish authorities have also...

Other Questions: EU-IMF Programme of Support Issues (20 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Ireland is on track to exit the EU-IMF programme of financial support at the end of this year. Until the end of 2015, Ireland will remain subject to the requirements of the corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. These requirements are for a general Government deficit that does not exceed 5.1% of GDP in 2014 and 2.9% of GDP in 2015. Budget 2014 targets a general Government deficit...