Tag Archives: Noonan

Noonan1You’ll recall Bank of Ireland and AIB’s debt writedown worth almost €140million for Independent News and Media, 30% of which is owned by Denis O’Brien.

And AIB’s apparent €10million writedown for Thomas Crosbie Holdings.

Namawinelake writes:

“In the Dáil this week, the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan was questioned about the writedowns. The response was curt – “due to data protection rules and customer confidentiality the banks are not in a position to discuss details of individual customer circumstances”

“Alas, data protection won’t save the humiliation of those named-and-shamed on the new personal insolvency register.

“The parliamentary questions and response are here:

“Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm theamount of debt forgiveness that will be provided by Allied Irish Bank to Independent News and Media as part of the latter firm’s recently announced reorganisation plans.

“Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will state, in both absolute and percentage terms, the amount of the debt being written down by wholly and partly State owned lending institutions for Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd. and Independent News and Media Ltd; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

“Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan: To ask the Minister for Finance the percentage stake the State will now hold through Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland in Independent News and Media Ltd. as a result of the debt for equity swop to facilitate the write down of INM Ltd. debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter.”

“Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: I propose to answer questions 132, 150 and 152 together.”

I have been informed that due to data protection rules and customer confidentiality the banks are not in a position to discuss details of individual customer circumstances.”

.

Ah yeah.

Sure what else would he say.

Debt forgiveness by state-banks to billionaires and merchant princes is secret, says Minister Noonan (Namawinelake)

Previously: This Is How Rumours Start

A €140 Million Write-off From Bank Of Ireland And AIB

Photocall Ireland

Noonan

Really?

Finance Minister Michael Noonan on Bloomberg Television’s ‘The Pulse’ earlier today.

It was all smiles until around 9.30, when he was asked about the Bundesbank’s president Jens Weidmann’s recent comments regarding  the legality of the promissory note deal.

Norules

In a much more sombre exchange with news anchor Guy Johnson at 10.38.

Guy Johnson: “No rules were broken.”

Michael Noonan: “No rules were broken.”

Johnson: “Do you expect any challenge? Do you expect a legal challenge to emanate from German? Could there be a challenge? And how destabilising would that be?”

Noonan: “I don’t expect any legal challenge from any authority or any institution in Europe. Individuals frequently take cases, we have a string of them in the Irish courts always, but they don’t go very far.”

Yikes.

Previously: Not So Fast

There’s A Touch Of That About It

Watch his full interview here.

This is an irish Times report on Michael Noonan’s now infamous Bloomberg breakfast briefing (the feta one) as it currently appears online.

The story went up just before lunchtime yesterday.

A contributor to the PoliticalWorld.org site copied and pasted it at the time.

And this, he asserts, is how it then read:

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan today warned voting Yes in the upcoming EU fiscal treaty referendum on May 31st would be a “leap in the dark” and a “dangerous leap but that Irish citizens should take it”.
He also told a Dublin event that no other European country but Ireland would be able to pass a referendum on the fiscal treaty. “In all other countries people are concerned about growing inequality. In Ireland we need to keep focus on more important issues of corporate profitability and tax protection we offer international organisations. This is not the time for drastic moves to the left simply to suit populist demands for simplistic idealism of “social justice”

 

You may notice the changed intro and the rather incendiary quote which is now missing from the story.

There are four possibilities.

1) Noonan never made the remark. It was inserted by a mischievous sub-editor (from the ‘left” perhaps) and hastily removed.

2) The PoliticalWorld.org contributor pasted the quote in for the ‘laugh’.

3) The Irish Times was hacked.

4) Noonan did say it (because that’s how he rolls) and The Irish Times chose, for whatever reason, to remove it.

More as we get it.