Results 4,141-4,160 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Just a couple of issues, Chairman. Referring to your opening statement, Mr. Farrell again, it may have been slightly touched on earlier, but I want to quote from it. You say that you "noted early on that the Consumer Director sat on IFSRA's board whilst the prudential director did not". When did you notice that, as a matter of interest, and why did you specifically reference this in your...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Did you raise any concerns about that at the time, that the prudential director wasn't on the board?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay, and was there any discussion with members of the federation?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Briefly, you said prior to the guarantee there was up to 70 institutions members of the federation. Post-guarantee ... the time you left in 2013, how many, roughly?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: It is, indeed. Finally, we've heard evidence from other witnesses in relation to potential change in Government policy with regard to directors' compliance statements, and lobbying that was undertaken by the banking federation with regard to those changes. Can you briefly, in a minute or so, outline the extent of the contact that you would have had with the Minister at the time, I think Mr....

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Yes-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: It may have overlapped between the two of them, I think.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Thank you.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Thank you, Chairman. Good night, Mr. McCarthy. It's nearly a 12-hour session you're-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I've a few questions. I'll try not to be repetitive, some of them may have been asked already but, firstly, I just ... you wore many hats, I suppose, in your time as Secretary General to the Government and Secretary General to the Department of Taoiseach ... I should say Secretary to the Government and - it's been referred to earlier on - your chairmanship of the NESC and also your role in...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Going back to the point you were making about the people coming to observe what was happening in Ireland, in 2000, when you became Secretary General to the Government, the Exchequer pay bill was €8.6 billion. By 2008, it had risen to €18.8 billion, an increase of 120%. Now, I know you weren't Secretary General to the Department of Finance but, obviously, you had a role in...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Can I ask, in relation to again your role as Secretary General to the Department of the Taoiseach, in your time in that period you worked with three different holders of the office. Mr. Cowen was here on two separate occasions and he outlined to the inquiry how he placed ... or I suppose I'm paraphrasing him really now, but he felt that there were people who had responsibilities -...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I don't want really specifics, but you ... you-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Others, most notably witnesses that we've had from the ... previously maybe working with the NTMA, expressed concern with regards to the capacity of the regulator, in particular, to do the functions that were delegated to that authority. Did you at any point in time share any of those or have any cause to have concerns about the capacity of the regulator to perform their function?...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (15 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Finally and briefly, we've had evidence particularly, I think, from Mr. Cardiff in relation to not just outside forces, but individuals and groups that came to him and maybe others within government prior in the earlier part of 2008 before the guarantee outlining the possible need for a political guarantee and then maybe a more extensive guarantee. Were you aware of those approaches...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (16 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Thank you, Chairman. Good morning still, Mr. Gallagher. I've a few brief questions. Most of what I wish to ask has been asked already. In response to Senator Barrett earlier you said that because Ireland didn't have huge resources, it needed to give a legal guarantee to make it credible. Do you accept the view that some people would hold that, ultimately, perhaps because of the nature of...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (16 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Well, isn't ... doesn't that really go to the heart of, ultimately, the weakness that some would argue ... I can't ask, perhaps, a leading question ... but ... of the guarantee, that the nature of it was such ... and the failure on the night to have full information as to the possible exposures in most of the institutions, or certainly a couple of them, meant that the liability opened...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (16 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: On the night in question did you offer an opinion as to the absence of direct input from the NTMA at the meeting as to the possible implications on the sovereign? They have given ... several members of the NTMA have given evidence to the inquiry that they had serious concerns and wouldn't have gone down the route of the guarantee which was ultimately chosen. Did you inform the meeting that...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (16 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. Briefly, I want to turn to a book that was published by former Green Party Member of the Oireachtas, Dan Boyle, where he issued ... levelled a number of criticisms at ... indirectly, I suppose, and perhaps directly at yourself in your role in the Government which you were Attorney General. The book was called Without Power or Glory: The Greens in Government (2007-2011). One of the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (16 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: One of the quotes that he said was "At cabinet level we were coming up against a further obstacle in the form of the attorney general Paul Gallagher." Were you aware at the time that you were viewed by a component part of the Government as an obstacle?