Results 241-260 of 332 for speaker:Shay Brennan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: The Impact of Tariffs on the Irish Economy: Nevin Economic Research Institute (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I would like to ask Dr. McDonnell his opinion. He outlined two potential ways forward or two strategies, one of which is to accept a tariff and move on and the other is to play hardball, take a more strategic approach and hope the other side folds first. Does he have a preference or an opinion as to which would be best for Ireland in this situation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: The Impact of Tariffs on the Irish Economy: Nevin Economic Research Institute (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I thank Dr. McDonnell for his valuable input. I am intrigued by the new model. We strayed into discussing the evolution and reform of the economy. Is there something Dr. McDonnell could share with the committee on that matter?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: The Impact of Tariffs on the Irish Economy: Nevin Economic Research Institute (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I thank Dr. McDonnell.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I will ask some broader questions. Mr. O'Brien mentioned Ireland's reputation. How will Ireland's reputation as a pro-business economy will be affected? In IBEC's opinion, what likely impacts would there be in the short, medium and long term to foreign direct investment, FDI, if we were to enact both trade and services as part of this legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Mr. O'Brien referenced the feedback from IBEC's members. At this stage, I imagine IBEC has received a reasonable amount of feedback. What are their key concerns, whether founded or unfounded? Some might just be fears about things that will not come to pass, but some might be quite valid. What sectors of the economy are the concerns coming from?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Is IBEC detecting any support from its member businesses to proceed down this route?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: The Bill is in its early stages and a lot of it has to be developed, particularly the detail. Are there any safeguards that IBEC's members would be keen to see included in a Bill such as this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Clarity and certainty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: In recent weeks, we have heard from various legal experts. Some of them have told us that this Bill could be challenged. If there is a challenge, it is likely to come from one of two places. One is the EU. The second is an Irish company. I am not referring to a specific company but it would be a company that feels injured. Has there been any talk among the members of IBEC or has Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Does Mr. O'Brien have any knowledge of any IBEC members taking action against legislation because they felt injured by its introduction in the past?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: That is fair. Mr. O'Brien has talked about businesses, particularly where services are involved, potentially moving a team or a piece of business abroad. We are talking about large businesses in those scenarios but some businesses are quite small and composed of a few people. They do not have the ability to move abroad. Has Mr. O'Brien heard of any business that is potentially threatened...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I have a minute left, Chair. May I give it to Senator Higgins?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: I thank the witnesses for joining us today. I have a number of questions. I might not get through them all but maybe if we get brief answers we have a chance of doing that. The NTMA obviously takes a view of the markets and what is going on in the national economy, or more importantly the global economy. Has the NTMA done any modelling on the impact of tariffs or the impact of Ireland's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: So the NTMA takes the Department of Finance forecasting modelling.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Great. I am just trying to understand the net debt figure. This is €157 billion and it is based off €218 billion debt and whatever is in our two sovereign wealth funds. That still leaves a gap of between €40 billion and €50 billion. What is that? Is that short-term cash?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: How is that cash managed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: Okay. That is a substantial short-term cash balance. How is that managed? Where is it kept? Is it liquid cash? How is return versus liquidity balanced?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Shay Brennan: What is the broad investment strategy for the two sovereign wealth funds? Will Mr. O’Connor comment on the targeted percentage return? How liquid are those investments?