Results 2,821-2,840 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Following on from that, how did it come to pass? I am looking at the list, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Granada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It seems like a very strange constituency for Ireland and Canada to find themselves in, concerning the executive board of the IMF.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I want to ask about the overall tenor of Dr. Donovan's statement today on how the IMF's analysis failed Ireland. It has also been quoted by other members. Dr. Donovan went on to refer in detail to absences from the analysis, particularly with regard to commercial property and what he referred to as CAB, the cyclically adjusted balance, which has a different connotation from what we would...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: In Dr. Donovan's experience, has that ever happened in a developed country?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: My last question relates to the cyclically adjusted balance, to which I referred. Dr. Donovan referred to Professor Honohan's report. Some 30% of the total tax take was from cyclical taxes, primarily related to property. How is it that the IMF failed to notice that? Can Dr. Donovan elaborate and say whether that has been corrected sufficiently?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Has it been corrected?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Does Dr. Donovan feel that if an analysis were to be carried out on country X now, alarm bells would ring?

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Levy (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: 91. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to remove the public sector pension levy; and if so; if he will provide the timetable for its removal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8415/15]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: 161. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details of the number of children, at primary school level and at secondary school level, in an area (details supplied) of County Dublin, who have been accepted as qualifying for inclusion in a special Autism Spectrum Disorder unit, located in a mainstream school, if places are available. [8389/15]

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I welcome Professor Connor. Will he outline for the committee the different factors that affect a bank's ability to attract corporate deposits versus bondholder funding? What are the principal factors there?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: In his opening statement Professor Connor spoke about the difference between blame and causation and noted that shareholders were pushing other banks to follow some of the leading banks he mentioned. Were there any other groups, either internally within the banks or externally, that were pushing some of the more long-established financial institutions to go down that route?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Aside from financial institutions, were there any other push factors?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I have a direct question regarding a point on which Professor Connor touched. Does he believe our EMU membership was a critical part of the financial collapse in Ireland?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Professor Connor referenced Iceland, which did have its own currency. Previous witnesses, including Professor John FitzGerald in particular, have noted that Latvia and Estonia had property bubbles similar in nature to Ireland but were outside EMU. What was the difference in those countries, which were European Union members but not members of EMU at that time? Why did they have the same...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Professor Connor mentioned several times that economists at the time downplayed the potential difficulties involved in economic and monetary union. I was a student of economics at the time and recall several significant voices in Irish economics who did express concern. In fact, it could be argued there was a 50:50 divide.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Will Professor Connor comment on that?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: The Chairman has stolen my true and fair question. In light of that question, I wish to ask a general one. Does Professor Walsh think that in the run-up to the crisis, the audits of the banks in Ireland served the true and fair purpose for which they were intended? What purpose did they serve?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I understand what Professor Walsh has said. Other witnesses have used the term "Wild West" a lot to describe the banking sector in the run-up to the collapse. A lot of commentators have made the point that the audit process did not reveal, satisfactorily at least, the difficulties that existed in the balance sheets of Irish banks. Did a Wild West situation exist? I do not want to ask a...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I have a question on the relationship between auditors and the financial institutions being audited. Is there not a contradiction at the heart of the traditional appointment of auditors by financial institutions as well as other companies? I do not want to ask a leading question. Is there not a contradiction in the sense that if one is a commercial bank and choosing one's own external...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Does Professor Walsh believe, as some others have suggested, that financial institutions should choose their own auditors or should an external third party such as the regulator have responsibility in this regard? Is he of the view that it might be necessary that the auditors of financial institutions should change regularly and that the same firm should not be responsible for auditing a...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Should a bank or financial institution be allowed to choose its own audit firm?