Results 14,041-14,060 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: This is the backstop we spoke about earlier. The fund will be built up over a ten-year period. Certainly in the meantime and maybe indefinitely we will need the European Stability Mechanism to act as a backstop to prevent any shortfalls from a series of burst banks across Europe coming back to hit European tax payers. We will go the ESM route as a backstop. That is the policy but it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The first issue will be the scope of the application of the resolution fund, whether it would apply to the 6,000 or so banks in Europe or just to the very big banks in certain sovereigns. There is a strong view in some countries that there should not be a central fund but that there should be a series of sovereign funds which in the event of need would combine to resolve difficulties within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The discussion is about standardising the form and the format of returns. There is no suggestion that there will be a standardised VAT rate. However, VAT is already controlled by European directives and we are quite limited with regard to what we can do in the area of VAT. For example, when we were discussing the 9% VAT in the hospitality area, people were suggesting that we should put...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: There is no discussion at all regarding standardising rates.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: It will be discussed by the Eurogroup and then it will move on to ECOFIN. An order of discussion has been set out now. As I said, the direct bank recapitalisation will come into force and then there could be discussion on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Political sentiment in favour of Ireland is very strong across Europe and in the G20, particularly in the United States. Market sentiment is also strongly in favour of Ireland. We had people in London talking to the main group of investors who invest in Ireland and sentiment was very strong towards Ireland. Market sentiment in the United States is also very strong. This is not to say that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Yes. The sentiment coming from abroad is always a kind of overview. Outsiders do not always have the precise details on sectors or individual hardship. They only have an overview and must rely on the macro-statistics, which are very strong. On the issue of emigration, last years figures indicated that between 80,000 and 90,000 emigrated. However, there was an inflow of almost 50,000...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I suppose that is a language and cultural issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Yes, this is generally in the debate on the provision of credit. It is an issue I dealt with in great detail last night in the House. Certainly the European banks can set up in Ireland and provide lines of credit but the general position on the European banking system is that because of the crisis and the deleveraging which had to take place right across the world, and particularly in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: There is a general debate. Commissioner Ollie Rehn got involved in that debate, according to an article I read last week. The economic theory underpinning it is that if the periphery countries in difficulty are all running fiscal programmes to reduce their deficits and move towards balanced budgets and surpluses and if at the same time the strong creditor countries are running very large...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: We would not be in the forefront of this debate but as the Deputy is probably well aware that if there are wealthy people in a country such as France or Germany they are liable to have a lot of savings in countries such as Switzerland or, maybe, Luxembourg but that is not the only example. That adversely affects tax take in those countries. Therefore, it is more of an issue for such...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I am sure it will come up in discussion. There is an excessive deficit procedure in Europe. There is not an excessive surplus procedure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: A Eurogroup meeting is taking place on Friday week. The agenda item is the budget and budgets in Europe. I do not think it will come up tomorrow or Friday but I would think it will come up the following week.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: While there is a European deficit mechanism enshrined in what we have to do, there is not, although there was a debate at the time-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: That is right. It will come up in that context.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: Yes, the general position is central to what I was saying to Deputy Dara Murphy, that it is in that space. If one does not correct problems within one's own control, I am speaking as a European rather than Ireland, then the markets will correct it. What will happen is that the euro will strengthen for the point against competitive currencies which will make costs very dear in Europe and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: If one is importing a great deal for manufacture or importing a great deal of energy, as Ireland does, then there are pluses and minuses to a strong currency. We need to see the impact on a specific sector in a specific country to decide whether a weak or strong currency plays to our advantage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: The proceedings will start on Thursday morning, 14 November, at 9 a.m. with an informal meeting with representatives of the European Parliament to discuss issues related to banking union and other financial service dossiers. The people attending that meeting are members of the European Parliament and the two Presidents, the Lithuanian finance Minister who holds the Presidency and the Greek...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Discussion with Minister for Finance (13 Nov 2013)

Michael Noonan: I am trying to explain to the Deputy that I will not be at the meetings at which the Deputy wants me to raise specific issues.