Results 4,421-4,440 of 10,460 for speaker:Gerry Horkan

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: We have to adjourn at 3 p.m., whether we are finished or not. That is the Order of Business. I call Senator McDowell.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Or the NUI panel.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: The omens are good.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, and 7 to 14, inclusive, are related. Amendment Nos. 3 and 4 are consequential on amendment No. 2. Amendments Nos. 8 to 14, inclusive, are consequential on amendment No. 7. These amendments may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Amendments Nos. 5, 6 and 19 to 22, inclusive, are related. Amendment No. 22 is consequential on amendment No. 6. These amendments may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Amendments Nos. 15 to 18, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Amendments Nos. 23 to 31, inclusive, are related. Amendments Nos. 24 to 29, inclusive, are consequential on amendment No. 23 and amendments Nos. 23 to 31, inclusive, may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: I know the Minister of State put a lot of work into this. I thank all the Members who were involved. We managed to do it all from when the Minister of State arrived in just under an hour but I was happy to sit here until 3 p.m. if that was necessary when we would have had to adjourn under the Order of Business.

Seanad: Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (22 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: When is it proposed to sit again?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. There are 11 members of the committee and five of us happen to be accountants. I will not be speaking on behalf of any particular body. Rather, I will ask questions relating to the opening statements. The concept of a true and fair view is fundamental to what accountants are trained to do. A set of accounts is supposed to reflect a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: I accept that loan valuations and debtor write-offs in any company where there is a list of debtors are subjective. There is a level of subjectivity regarding whether a particular party is able to pay. It is the same with inventory. One puts a value on an asset, and somebody else disagrees. Until it is sold, one does not realise the loss or gain or whatever it happens to be. In the case...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Mr. Butler is saying that, by law, banks and the accounting profession were told not to recognise losses. What law?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Was it approved by the Houses of Parliament in the UK or by the Houses of the Oireachtas?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: When Mr. Butler said they are the laws, are they accounting rules or are they laws?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: I am aware that it is quite technical but Mr. Butler is saying that by law they were told to do the opposite of what they would normally do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: I accept that. I am not sure that everybody watching this would be as familiar with what is going on, but there is a difference between accounting standards and company law. Accounting standards are the rules that the bodies implement and one would expect them to try to adhere to company law at all times. Accounting standards are not law, however. Is the problem with IAS 39 or with some...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: So the law is not the problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: The accountants said they would like the law to be ignored or changed so that the standard is then legal-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: -----and they just went off and adhered to the standard, which is not legal, as opposed to adhering to the law. It is not the law's problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Matters Relating to the Banking Sector (Resumed): Pensions and Investment Research Consultants Ltd (28 May 2019)

Gerry Horkan: Nobody pursued people who were breaking the law, or not complying with the law.