Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport funding his Department has granted for tourism initiatives in Tramore, County Waterford, and to which local organisations or bodies, in each of the past five years.
 
Reply from Minister Leo Varadkar: The matter raised is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland.  I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland for direct reply. Please contact my private office if a reply is not received within ten working days. 

Answered on May 28, 2013
To ask the Minister for Finance if he will release figures or statistics on mortgage arrears on a county basis including incorporating three month arrears, six month arrears and 12 month arrears data.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: The Central Bank commenced the quarterly publication of mortgage and mortgage arrears data from the period ending September 2009.  The most recent available data, which is for the quarter ending December 2012, indicates that 11.9% of PDH mortgages and 18.9% of BTL mortgages were in arrears of more than 90 days.  The full range of published mortgage arrears data is available on the Central Bank’s website, www.centralbank.ie.

However, the Central Bank has advised me that it does not publish a geographical breakdown of its quarterly mortgage arrears statistics.

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the percentage of non-performing loans in Irish State owned banks.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: The percentage of non-performing loans in AIB and ptsb are set out above.

The deputy should note that the banks provide further details regarding the non-performing loan portfolios in their annual report and accounts.

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the official estimated growth levels here for the next three years.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: The Department’s latest growth forecasts, in both GDP and GNP terms, are outlined above.

The Department’s latest macro-economic forecasts were published on April 30 in the Irish Stability Programme -  April 2013 Update. The publication can be accessed on the Department’s website at www.finance.gov.ie.

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the expected debt to GDP ratio for each year of the next five years.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: The projected general government debt to GDP ratio for the periods 2012 to 2016 and 2016 to 2019 are available on pages 54 and 49, respectively, of the Irish Stability Programme April 2013 Update. The corresponding data requested by the Deputy relating to the expected debt to GDP ratio for each year for the next five years is listed in the table above.

Source: Department of Finance, NTMA and CSO  

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance if he will list Ireland's creditors and itemise the amounts owed to each creditor.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: Those persons/entities holding Irish Government debt would be considered Ireland’s main creditors. The most recent estimate of Gross General Government Debt is for end 2012, when it stood at €192.5 billion. The largest components of Gross General Government Debt at end 2012, as shown in the table below, were Governments bonds and EU/IMF Programme loans.

With regard to the ownership of Government bonds, while the Central Bank of Ireland is the registrar for Irish Government bonds, the manner in which they are settled and registered does not allow for the identification of individual holders. However, the Central Bank’s Quarterly Bulletins contain some limited information on holders of Irish Government bonds, disaggregated between resident and non-resident holders. Furthermore, the ECB announced in February 2013 that it held €14.2 billion of Irish Government bonds at end 2012.

With regard to developments in 2013, the Deputy will be aware that the promissory notes in respect of IBRC were replaced by €25 billion of floating rate bonds in February and are currently held by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Rounding can affect totals.

The figures in the table are unaudited figures and take account of the effect of currency hedging transactions.

*These are the liabilities outstanding under the EU/IMF Programme as at end 2012 and take account of the effect of currency hedging transactions. A prepaid margin of €0.53 billion was deducted from the EFSF loan of €4.19 billion drawn down on 1 February 2011. The EFSF figure in the table takes account of this reduction.

**State Savings is the brand name used by the NTMA to describe the range of savings products offered by the State to personal savers. These products include Savings Bonds, Savings Certificates, Instalments Savings, National Solidarity Bonds, and Prize Bonds. State Savings Schemes also include moneys placed by depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB). These funds are mainly lent to the Exchequer as short-term advances. Taking into account the POSB, total State Savings outstanding was €16.3 billion at end 2012 
  
***Of which, Exchequer cash balances and other short-term cash management balances accounted for €19.3 billion at end 2012 

****In February 2013, €25 billion of floating rate Government bonds were issued to the Central Bank of Ireland in exchange for the Promissory Notes previously held by IBRC.                                                         
Source: NTMA and Central Statistics Office (CSO)

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the current staffing levels at the Irish Central Bank of Ireland, his Department and the Revenue Commissioners compared to five years ago.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: At 30 April 2008, my Department employed 623.57 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE).  At 30 April 2013, the figure was 324.76. 

I have been advised by the Central Bank that at 23 April 2013 the Central Bank employed 1,393 staff- staff numbers at end-December 2008 were 1022.5.

The Revenue Commissioners have provided me with the following table in response to the deputy’s question:

Table: Revenue serving staff (Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)) 30 April 2008 and 30 April 2013

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: National debt is essentially the debt of the Exchequer and is a subset of general government debt. General government debt is the measure of the total debt of the State used for comparative purposes across the European Union. 

The latest forecasts available going out to 2019, have been published recently in the Stability Programme Update (SPU). The table above restates the forecast for general government debt as contained in the SPU and also contains the forecast nominal amounts for debt and interest.

Source: Department of Finance

Notes: Rounding may affect totals

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the overall current level of debt here; and if he will categorise the different debt amounts.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: The most recent period for which data is available on the general government debt is the last quarter of 2012. A detailed breakdown of the composition of general government debt and resultant pie chart is available on page 24 of the Irish Stability Programme April 2013 Update. The corresponding data requested by the Deputy is listed in the table above.

Source: Department of Finance, NTMA and CSO 

Note: In February 2013 the promissory note commitment was replaced by a portfolio of government bonds. The effect of this exchange (excluding costs related to the whole transaction) is to replace the promissory note debt with government bond debt, with no immediate effect on the general government debt.

Answered on May 28, 2013
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding his Department’s deliberations on the Living City Initiative in terms of maximising its uptake in Waterford and Limerick, and securing the necessary EU approvals.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: Finance Act 2013 includes a section on the Living City Initiative which introduces a scheme of tax incentives focusing on the regeneration of the historic centres of some of our main cities. The scheme which will be introduced by Ministerial order, will apply in the first instance on a pilot basis only to specified regeneration areas in Waterford and Limerick.

I indicated in my budget speech in December last year that I would examine proposals for a targeted incentive for already identified regeneration areas. The tax relief that will apply under this scheme will operate for five years from the date of commencement. 

However, it is my intention that before it begins, the scheme will be subject to an ex ante cost benefit analysis and, subject to a positive outcome from the analysis, I will seek EU approval under State Aid rules for this initiative to be commenced for Limerick and Waterford cities. 

Now that Finance Act 2013 is law, my department has been working on a request for tender document and I expect the tendering process for the cost benefit analysis project to begin shortly.