Written answers
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Department of Finance
Ministerial Appointments
5:00 pm
Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of new committees, advisory groups or new positions in general that have been put in place since he was appointed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40550/11]
Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In response to the Deputy's question 6 new Committees or advisory bodies have been established under the remit of my Department since March 2011. Details of these bodies are contained in the following table: Committees and Advisory Groups
| Title | Function |
| Inter-Departmental Mortgage Arrears Working Group | This group was established in July 2011 to consider further actions to alleviate the increasing problem of mortgage arrears and it reported its findings to the Governments Economic Management Council at the end of September. This group has now terminated |
| Mortgage Arrears Steering Group | This group was established in December 2011 to, inter alia, progress the recommendations set out in the report of the Mortgage Arrears Steering Group as approved by Government. |
| Fiscal Advisory Council: | As Minister for Finance I announced the establishment of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council on 7 July 2011. The Council is part of a wider agenda of reform of Ireland's budgetary architecture which is envisaged in the Programme for Government. When I announced the establishment of the Council, it was stated that the Council would be an independent body whose existence and independence would be underpinned by legislation to be brought forward by Government in the Fiscal Responsibility Bill by the end of March 2012.The role of the Council is to provide an assessment of, and comment publicly on, whether the Government is meeting its own stated budgetary targets and objectives. It will also be charged with assessing the appropriateness and soundness of the Government's fiscal stance and macroeconomic projections as well as an assessment of the extent of compliance with the Government's fiscal rules. The latter are also to be brought forward in the proposed Fiscal Responsibility Bill. |
| NewERA | The establishment of NewERA and the Strategic Investment Fund under the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) was announced on Thursday, 29 September 2011.NewERA has been established on a non-statutory basis as a Shareholder Executive within the NTMA. NewERA will bring forward proposals by mid-2012 for consideration by Government on options for moving towards a full holding company status which could own the shares in commercial semi-states. The policy objective behind NewERA is to modernise the manner in which Government manages its shareholding in the semi-state companies and will oversee the corporate governance of commercial semi-states from a shareholder perspective.The Strategic Investment Fund, which will be the forerunner of the Strategic Investment Bank, will, following appropriate legislative changes to the investment policy of the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), channel commercial investment from the NPRF towards productive investment in the Irish economy. |
| The Commission on Credit Unions | The Commission on Credit Unions was established by the Government on 31 May 2011. Its purpose is to review the future of the credit union movement and make recommendations in relation to the most effective regulatory structure for credit unions, taking into account their not-for-profit mandate, their volunteer ethos and community focus, while paying due regard to the need to fully protect depositors savings and financial stability. |
| The Financial Inclusion Strategy Implementation Working Group | The Financial Inclusion Strategy Implementation Working Group was set up on 8 December 2011 on foot of a Ministerial decision. It is chaired by this department and is comprised of representatives from An Post, AIB, BOI, IL&P, Department of Social Protection, St Vincent de Paul, the Central Bank, the Money Advisory Bureau Service and the National Consumer Agency. |
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