Written Answers Nos. 63-71
63. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an outline of Permanent TSB's plans to sell non-performing mortgages; the number, and book value, of mortgages for sale; the current position, with regard to the proposed sale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8632/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed by Permanent TSB that its Non-Core business is comprised mainly of a loan book of performing and non-performing Commercial Real Estate loans and the business of Capital Home Loans (CHL) in the UK which will be sold or wound down over time.
Permanent TSB has separately advised me that it is not currently in a sales process in respect of the sale of 5,000 non-performing mortgages as speculated in one newspaper recently.
64. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an outline of plans Allied Irish Banks or the Educational Building Society may have to sell non-performing mortgages; the number, and book value, of mortgages under consideration for sale; the current position with regard to any proposed sale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8633/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed that AIB/EBS have no plans at this time to sell performing or non-performing mortgage loan portfolios.
65. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of the efforts made at mediation between KPMG, as special liquidator of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, and former directors of the Irish Nationwide Building Society; if a meeting, aimed at mediation, took place; the date of any such meeting; those in attendance; if he will provide details of any court action being taken by KPMG against former directors of the building society; the current status of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8639/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been advised by the Special Liquidators of IBRC that a mediation meeting with the former directors of Irish Nationwide Building Society took place, however, given that mediation is a totally confidential process, the Special Liquidators are unable to comment further on this matter.
66. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide for a Revenue Commissioners investigation into offshore pension transfers; the amount of pension savings the Revenue Commissioners believe has been shielded from tax; if he will list the countries the Revenue Commissioners believe have been used for such transfers; the number of cases involved, amount of tax levied, fines imposed, and settlements agreed, as part of the investigation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8644/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have been engaged since 2014 in an on-going compliance program that involves visits to pension providers, pension administrators and pension trustees in relation to the transfer of pension funds off-shore. The objective of the compliance program is to ensure that the purpose of any transfer of pension funds off shore is for bona fide reasons and do not contravene tax legislation or undermine pension tax policy. At this point, the question of settlements does not arise as the priority to date has been to verify the bona fides of the transfers and to establish the scale of the issues involved.
For taxpayer confidentiality reasons it is not possible to give precise details of the enquiries underway. However, I am advised that from 2012 to date a total of 456 notifications to transfer pension arrangements off-shore have been received by the Revenue Commissioners and the value of the funds to be transferred amount to €54,707,326. It is important to bear in mind that not all of these transfer notifications may actually have proceeded to an actual transfer. Also many would have been made for bona fide purposes and fully compliant with tax legislation and pension tax policy. While there is a range of countries involved, 348 of the transfers were to Australia, Cyprus, Malta and the United Kingdom.
I am further informed by the Revenue Commissioners that moving pension funds off-shore in an effort to circumvent the requirements of Irish pension tax legislation may fall foul of the conditions under which a pension scheme was approved by the Revenue Commissioners as an exempt approved scheme or the conditions under which a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) product received Revenue approval. This could result in the withdrawal of the approval of an occupational pension scheme in accordance with the provisions of section 772(5) of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997 or the withdrawal of the approval of the PRSA product under section 787K (3) and (4) TCA 1997. Any such withdrawal of approval could trigger significant tax liabilities on the sums moved off shore and the withdrawal or claw back of tax reliefs. Moreover, in such cases and depending on the circumstances and the motivation of the individual concerned the possibility also arises that such transactions may also fall foul of the legislation designed to counter tax avoidance transactions.
In addition to Revenue s compliance program, the Department of Finance has initiated a review of the whole area of pension transfers abroad in conjunction with Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and the Pensions Authority. Revenue's findings from the on-going compliance programme will feed into and inform that review.
67. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons his Department believe to be self-employed in the State and, therefore, do not receive the pay-as-you-earn tax credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8645/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the estimated number of income earners who are self-employed or proprietary directors and are not in receipt of the PAYE tax credit is 220,000 and 83,200 respectively. The number given for the self-employed relates to income earners whose main source of income is from non-PAYE sources.
All figures above are estimates for 2015, using the actual data for the year 2012 (the latest year for which data are available) adjusted as necessary for income, self-employment and employment trends in the interim. They are provisional and may be revised. A married couple or civil partners who have elected or have been deemed to have elected for joint assessment are counted as one tax unit.
68. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance his plans, in terms of the pension levy, which has significantly impacted upon pensions of retired workers who are on fixed incomes; if the said levy will be abolished in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8648/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe pension fund levy was introduced in 2011 to fund the Jobs Initiative, which has been very successful in both helping to create and to maintain employment in this economy. The levy has applied at a rate of 0.6% for the years 2011 to 2013, at an aggregate rate of 0.75% for 2014 and will apply at a reduced rate of 0.15% for this year. In accordance with the provisions in section 125B of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, the stamp duty levy on pension fund assets will end after 2015.
69. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance the reason he, or his Department, did not consult with the Central Bank of Ireland, before announcing a mortgage insurance proposal, in May 2014; if he intends to continue with the proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8651/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn May 2014, the Government launched "Construction 2020" which set out a focused programme of action to deliver a strong, sustainable, well-financed, competitive and innovative approach to construction and housing. The implementation of the strategy, which is overseen by the Department of An Taoiseach, sets out the relevant public bodies and other agencies that are involved in the various action points contained in the strategy including the particular action point which relates to the concept of mortgage insurance. The strategy also outlines how the Department of Finance intends to work with other relevant bodies including the Central Bank. The Central Bank was afforded an opportunity to contribute to this process, as indeed the Central Bank subsequently afforded my Department the opportunity to comment on the related proposals for macro prudential measures in relation to residential mortgage lending. As the Deputy will be aware, the Central Bank acting in its capacity as independent regulator of financial service providers has now put in place new macro prudential measures for residential mortgage lending. The concept of mortgage insurance is an issue that will now have to be further considered in the light of these new macro prudential rules and of housing market developments more generally.
70. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance the total numbers of meetings he, or his officials, have held with a person, or company (details supplied), in the context of a proposed bid to purchase Permanent TSB mortgages; if he will confirm that he was aware of any form of this proposal that would include fees from the company being paid to the person or other company, or the company obtaining rent supplement for the borrowers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8653/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed that officials in my Department have met with representatives of the company (details supplied) in total on four occasions. On three of these occasions the meetings were between Department of Finance officials and representatives of the company (details supplied). On a fourth occasion the meeting was attended by Regina Doherty TD, representatives of the company (details supplied) and the person referred to in the details supplied.
Discussions centred around a proposal to buy non-performing loans from Irish banks but no specific proposals were discussed in relation to individual banks operating in Ireland, including Permanent TSB, nor were there any discussions in relation to fees.
It should also be noted that the administration of the rent supplement scheme is not within the remit of my Department. This scheme is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Social Protection.
Also as the Deputy will be aware, I must ensure that the banks in which the State has a shareholding are run on a commercial, cost effective and independent basis to ensure their value as an asset to the State. A Relationship Framework has been specified that defines the nature of the relationship between the Minister for Finance and each bank. These frameworks were published on 30 March 2012 and can be found on the Department of Finance website.
71. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if he will issue guidelines, or directions, to the National Asset Management Agency that none of the agency's borrowers will be allowed to use any funds to pay for the living expenses, or legal costs, of a person (details supplied), in that person's fight against bankruptcy appeal and extradition hearings; if he will confirm whether the agency has conducted any investigations concerning its non-performing borrowers, providing any money to that person to pay for that person's living expenses or legal costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8655/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraNAMA is not aware of the scenario outlined by the Deputy. I am advised by NAMA that it does not permit its funding or income from assets belonging to its debtors to be used for the discharge of unrelated third party expenses. NAMA approves expenditure by debtors, including the retention of certain overhead costs from rental or other income generated by a debtor's assets, only in so far as it relates to debts owing to NAMA and to the management and enhancement of the underlying security. NAMA funding is subject to full and ongoing monitoring. The Deputy will also be aware that Section 7 of the NAMA Act requires debtors to provide a sworn statement of affairs to NAMA including details of all assets and other resources available for debt repayment. All available resources are applied towards repaying a debtor's indebtedness to NAMA. Failure by debtors to fully disclose their assets and liabilities in their statements of affairs is a criminal offence. I do not consider that it is necessary for me to issue guidelines or directions to NAMA in these circumstances. The Deputy will note that some debtors may have debts with other financial institutions that may not exercise similar financial controls over any such income from those secured assets.
