Results 521-540 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: I am absolutely amazed that the Labour Party and Sinn Féin are objecting to the Government helping young couples to buy their first home. What kind of a society-----

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: What kind of a society will we have if the representatives in the Labour Party and Sinn Féin deliberately come into the House and try to prevent a Government scheme that is working to help young couples to put a deposit together.

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputies are shouting me down now.

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputies are just shouting me down. This time last year there was hardly any starter homes being built in any part of this country-----

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: -----except once-off houses in rural parts of Ireland. There are a lot of starter homes being built now and the young couples I am talking about are being assisted by this scheme. It does not apply to second hand houses or anything other than new builds. It is stimulating new builds.

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: I thank Deputy Catherine Connolly for tabling the question and Deputy Mick Wallace for acting as proxy and articulating the issue in the House. I am satisfied NAMA has made and continues to make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of the State.  Its principal contribution to social and economic development has been the major progress that it has made in...

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The issue in the question is whether NAMA is delivering on its social mandate under the NAMA Act. I have already stated that it has delivered 2,370 residential units through NARPS. When it began in 2010, there were 332 unfinished housing estates. There is now 11 because it finished out all those estates. It has, therefore, contributed significantly to housing supply. It is also now...

Other Questions: Excise Duties (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: I again thank the Deputy for his submission. The Revenue Commissioners are not the responsible authority for preventing trade in illicit fuels. However, I will bring the Deputy's views to the attention of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, which has the competence of law and sanctions that would apply to the prevention of the import of solid fuels. I will see...

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The help-to-buy incentive aims both to assist those first-time buyers struggling to save for the deposit required to purchase a house, and incentivise additional building and the provision of extra housing stock. At budget time, my officials estimated that the help-to-buy incentive would cost €40 million per annum but €50 million in 2017 due to the backdating of the relief in...

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The various indices about increases in house prices are largely applicable to second-hand houses. The help-to-buy scheme does not impact on the price of second-hand houses at all. In any economic model the generation of extra supply should act as a downward pressure, easing the demand for second-hand houses if people can buy new houses instead. Since the scheme is for people principally...

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: However, he said it would wash out over time.

Other Questions: Help-To-Buy Scheme (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy did not quote the relevant piece.

Other Questions: Credit Unions (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: I share the Deputy's admiration for the credit union movement and for the excellent people, both at professional and volunteer level, who manage credit unions so effectively all over the country. The Central Bank is committed to assisting the credit unions in developing their business model. It has informed me, as Minister for Finance, that it is open to working with the credit union sector...

Other Questions: Excise Duties (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The free movement of goods is a fundamental freedom of the Internal Market of the European Union and ensures that goods can move freely across intra-union borders. However, the European Union excise regime which governs the production, processing and holding of excisable products imposes certain restrictions on intra-Union movements of these products. These restrictions impact on the...

Other Questions: Excise Duties (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: My initial reply dealt exclusively with controls on the importation of fossil fuels. The collection of solid fuel carbon tax is heavily reliant on the regulatory regime for solid fuel put in place by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. This regulatory framework covers the marketing, sale, distribution and burning of solid fuels in the State and sets out...

Other Questions: National Debt (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: I am quite sanguine about the NTMA's policy. I have discussed the situation with the NTMA quite frequently. One of the strategies of the NTMA is to smooth the profile of debt repayments so that the peaks are reduced and as a consequences the values are increased, if one thinks about it in graph terms. It is doing that very successfully and has managed that very well over recent years. ...

Other Questions: National Debt (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The NTMA tells me that there are a number of variables that impact on interest rates, including yields in other markets at the time, the demand for the relevant maturity at a point in time, the economic and fiscal position of the borrower, credit ratings and the size of issues, among others. The NTMA does not disclose the interest rates at which it could potentially issue debt as to do so...

Other Questions: Credit Unions (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Credit Union Advisory Committee, CUAC, in its review of implementation of the recommendations in the commission on credit unions report, recommended that an implementation group be established for a specified period of time to oversee and monitor implementation of those recommendations in a methodical manner and to advise the Minister for Finance on progress.  ...

Other Questions: Credit Unions (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The role of the Minister for Finance in respect of the credit unions is to ensure that the legal framework for credit unions is appropriate for the effective operation and supervision of the credit unions. The Government has a clear policy to support the strategic growth and development of credit unions in Ireland as set out in the commission on credit union's report and recommendations....

Other Questions: National Debt (4 Apr 2017)

Michael Noonan: The Department of Finance is in regular contact with officials in the NTMA on a wide range of topics, including the management of the national debt. Over the period 2018 to 2020, there are five benchmark bonds due to mature. The total balance outstanding on these bonds is currently just over €42 billion. In addition, the majority of the bilateral loans received from the UK,...