Results 241-260 of 445 for speaker:Eoghan Harris
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: The three main components of the current crisis, or the long war as I call it, are the collapse in bank credit, the collapse in jobs and, perhaps most importantly, the collapse in the personal ability of people to discharge their debts. It is a pity that the debate initiated by Senators Fitzgerald and O'Toole should have been diverted into a sort of proto-NAMA debate. Time is precious so we...
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Twenty years ago, I defined social democracy as the free market mediated by the state. In other words, the state was like a tough referee trying to let the match run as freely as possible and only interfering when there were some serious professional fouls. That is roughly what social democracy means in practice. The reason I complain so much about party politics here is because I fear the...
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Thank you for that note of realism.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Except for Anglo Irish Bank.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Like many former Marxists or socialists who have learned sense, Senator O'Toole likes to make our flesh creep with the contradictions of capitalism. I am tempted to do this myself.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: He is right, of course. I have described this as being comparable to a match where the State is the referee, only intervening when a professional foul is committed. It conjures up a scene where the referee is going to be stopping the game continually and instructing the players while the object of the capitalist exercise in game terms is to score as many goals as possible. The referee...
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: I have his name on a list somewhere.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: I welcome the fact that light is being thrown on the realities of the banks during this debate. It is good that we are now facing the fact that NAMA is more of a process than a product. It is tedious and nit-picking - I have always personally disliked it - when people like Senator Regan ask whether we are going to make a profit. I do not know how we could pin anything like that down in the...
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: To do this, we need access to NAMA. I trust the Minister and his officials will be able to confirm that there is nothing in the Bill to prevent NAMA from making its expertise available to any such State agencies or in any assessment of personal mortgages. I suspect that in the coming five to six years up to 300,000 people will need to have their mortgages reassessed by a neutral agency and...
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: As long as it breaks even.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: It just has to be solvent.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: What a catch the Senator is.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: I refer to paragraph (xi) which states: "to take all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of the conditions that brought about the financial crisis". The Minister has a letter from the Frontline Alliance. I have just come from the streets. I walked passed them, and most of them recognised me. I am one of their strongest critics but what struck me was the lack of rancour, the discipline...
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Or hand it to the so-called community activists.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: I merely want to support Senator Norris in regard to doing our business with some dispatch. It is late. Wars of attrition do not impress the public. The public are much more interested in our doing our business with dispatch. I appeal to Senators to shorten their contributions. I hope the Acting Chair will take a heavy hand.
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Is there any chance of gagging this debate?
- Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)
Eoghan Harris: Is the Senator going to eat also?
- Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2009)
Eoghan Harris: The Government's position in regard to the public sector is very like that of these people in Knock who gaze at the sun and expect to see things happen. The Government, like previous Governments, has been blinded and hypnotised by the public sector. What has happened in the past few days is that the backbenchers have begun to give this Government a reality check on what the mass of our...