Results 4,221-4,240 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: One more question. I'm sorry for interrupting but there's only ten seconds left and I have to ask you. During your time in opposition do you feel that you were able to make effective use of decision-making processes within the Oireachtas to strengthen legislation, particularly financial and banking sector legislation? Minister Bruton, maybe, first.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I just want to put that question, my time as just elapsed, to the Taoiseach as well. Did you feel that you had effective use of the decision-making processes in the Oireachtas with regard to legislation for banking in the financial sector?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon. Firstly, Deputy Rabbitte, in relation to your opening statement on page 2, you said "On the basis of evidence heard to date by this Inquiry it appears that a small number of influential individuals in the Financial Sector had more influence with government than did Dáil Eireann". Briefly, can you point to what evidence you're referring to and,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay, thank you. I want to turn to the Tánaiste now, I only have about four minutes remaining. Tánaiste, in your witness statement, under the heading of "The policy failures that propagated the crisis", you were referring to the period following the adoption of the euro and up to mid-2007 and you stated that, "A more proactive regulator would have responded to these developments by...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I'm talking about actions by the regulator though before the guarantee. Like, did ... can you point to-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: You brought those concerns to the Central Bank-the regulator.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Was any action-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Was there any action forthcoming though? I'm not trying to put you-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Well, did you follow it up? I mean, the fact-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: -----that you weren't getting a response-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: -----that you had raised alarm bells.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay. That's fair enough. I want to turn to the guarantee, before I finish. Several commentators - and I want to reference in particular a column by Vincent Browne in The Irish Timeson 24 October 2012 - have stated that the Labour Party opposed the bank guarantee because it gave too much power to the Minister for Finance. That was what he mentioned in that particular column, and because...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Yes, a brief supplementary. I've gone through the record of the Dáil from the debates that took place around the legislation surrounding the guarantee and you've referred earlier on to burning bondholders and insolvency issues. I haven't - now, it was me trying to ... after the first question that was asked, I think, by Deputy McGrath - been able to find any reference of you commenting...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Yes ... about insolvency of certain institutions and the burning of bondholders and yet when this debate was taking place you didn't actually raise those concerns at all.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon, Mr. O'Reilly. You said there in answer to the last question, I think, to Senator Barrett, that we didn't seek to put in place any controls as regards inflation. You're talking "we" in terms of the Government or who is the "we"?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Okay, do you think ... I was interested in your comments again to an earlier question that he asked where you said that you ... he posed the question "Were you concerned about the huge increase in house prices from two and a half times income to 12 times?", and you said that that "was our concern". We've had evidence from other people who were involved in development that they may have had...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: So did you think that the level of house price increase was not sustainable? I suppose it's, kind of, an obvious question.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (23 Jul 2015)

John Paul Phelan: All right, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to cut you short. You made the point fairly well. I just ... I suppose, as somebody who is a businessman, you have said that you were concerned about the rate of house price increase. Did you believe, like, that that was a sustainable rate to run a business into the future, that you could sustain those prices and that your business could survive...