Results 23,721-23,740 of 26,705 for speaker:John McGuinness

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Are the corporate service providers in breach of the regulations because they cannot name the company that is responsible or they do not know where the make-up of that company or trust ends? In terms of the information collected by the Central Bank, is that a standard form that is completed? Is it extensive? Although the Central Bank does not publish the form, because the form is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: The question for the Central Bank is on what it is doing with the data that it collects. Does it store them? Does it read them? Does it have a picture of what is going on? It may be a matter between the Central Bank and the Minister for Finance or, generally speaking, this committee could ask the Central Bank. In terms of the negative equity and large losses which Dr. Stewart spoke about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Some 3,125 section 110 firms have assets of €1.3 trillion in 2021. Any layperson reading that would certainly wonder why these firms are not regulated extensively by the Central Bank. Am I wrong?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: The total figure for assets is €1,031 billion. What sorts of assets are held by these companies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: That is fascinating. The first table refers to funds raised on Dublin Euronext between 2018 and 2021 in the billions of euro. Will Dr. Stewart talk us through that table and comment on the fact Russian Railways, RZD, raised a total of €10.1 billion in the years 2010 to 2021, inclusive? He stated that in addition, banks availing of section 110 raised finance for the Russian military....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart gave a specific figure in respect of Russian Railways, of €10.1 billion, but he stated a number of banks raised money that went to the Russian military. Can he quantify that? Where did the money come from for that specific purpose? Was that from Russian investors as well?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: These firms, based in Ireland with zero employees and paying little or no tax, are providing funds for the Russian military and Russian Railways. It is difficult to believe all this has gone on. Would any of that information have shown up in the information being collected by the Central Bank, or is it so general that it does not get down to the granular nature of the answer to that query?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: In light of the current sanctions against Russia, should the Government step in and do something about companies that can clearly be identified as raising funds for either Russian Railways or the Russian military? Surely we have an obligation to stop this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Moving on to the use of holding companies, which Dr. Stewart discussed in his opening statement, a former US expert on organised crime in the former Soviet Union, who was also CIA chief of base in that country, gave evidence to the US House Committee on Financial Services that identified Ireland as a major location for wealth leaving Russia in the post-Soviet period. I presume the wealth...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Will Dr. Stewart elaborate on the use of more recent forms of corporate entity, for example, limited liability company, LLC, and their likely use by the criminal groups he refers to as second order actors?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart has provided notes relating to commentary earlier in his statement regarding structures in Ireland that became obvious in a court case involving intimidation and fraud. These are notes Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive. Will he comment on this matter generally?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: What I take from Dr. Stewart's opening statement and our discussion is that the Irish Government and regulators – the Government through legislating and the regulators through implementing legislation – have a great deal to do just to get a handle on some of this. It will be almost impossible to get the full picture. We need to take a far greater interest in what is happening...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: I am inclined to agree with Dr. Stewart.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: I thank Dr. Stewart for giving generously of his time and insight. This is an intriguing topic, and the more one goes into it, the more one wants to know about it. I thank Dr. Stewart for attending. I also thank members for their contributions.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (21 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: 551. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review a case being made by a school (details supplied); and if a positive response will be expedited. [31942/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Services (21 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: 746. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1748 of 26 April 2022 and the response issued by the HSE on 4 May 2022, relative to the care that is urgently required by a person (details supplied) if his attention has been drawn to the fact that their consultant psychiatrist has been advocating for a decade for the need for a specialist residential service for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (22 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: 41. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if an application for funding submitted by Kilkenny County Council under the developer provided water services infrastructure scheme relative to Brookfield Estate, Ballyhale, Kilkenny, will be expedited and approved given that the application was made in 2021. [33027/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (23 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: 453. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure that the harbour authority at Dunmore East will fully engage with a club (details supplied) relative to the traffic management plan being proposed and in particular the access issues for the club arising from the proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33323/22]