Results 4,941-4,960 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: What does that mean?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Judging by the morality of the financial markets, shadow banking and so forth, and the standards that apply there, the standards of those operators might be good, but they are not good from the point of view of ordinary people. In regard to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, the Minister told me in the Dáil last week that he would ask the witness to give us that or a redacted version of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: The only option given by PricewaterhouseCoopers is to put 13,000 mortgages on the market for vulture capitalists.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Did the witness look for any other options?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: They came back with one.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Why will the witness not give it to us?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Mr. Wallace has referred several times to so-called independent advice. Is PricewaterhouseCoopers part of that process?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Does Mr. Wallace realise that many of these institutions have zilch credibility among ordinary people? PricewaterhouseCoopers, for example, were the accountants for GAMA Construction Ireland Ltd. and were forced to resign when we exposed a massive worker exploitation scandal to which they had turned a blind eye. What faith can the mortgage holders in IBRC have in these insiders in this process?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: In the same way as Irish Water tendered, it is an inside track along the line. The Minister told us that contractual terms will not change for the mortgage holders. Does Mr. Wallace agree with that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: What can change for the 12,700 mortgage holders under the new owners of their mortgages?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Can the new owners increase interest rates?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: To maximise their gamble, which is what these people do, they can increase interest rates at will on their mortgage clients.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Does the witness accept that mortgage holders in difficulties or in a difficult arrears situation can come under enormous pressure from these vulture capitalists?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: What type of assurance is that for the future?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: I know some dogs that are very nice because I know them, but if a new dog arrives on the block, it might be quite vicious. How can Mr. Wallace say that they will not act in a brutal fashion in pressuring people with arrears out of their homes, if it suits them?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: However, the witness can give no assurance in regard to how these entities will act to the mortgage holders who are now under much stress as to what is coming down the line.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: That is no guarantee of future performance.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: We hold the Minister for Finance and the Government primarily responsible for this mess and all that is involved here, but did Mr. Wallace or Mr. Richardson at any stage consider the option of maintaining those mortgages in forms of State ownership to protect mortgage holders, reassure them and allow them to continue to live in peace on reasonable terms?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of IBRC Mortgage Loan Book: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Is it not amazing? The witnesses are so fused with the ethos of the capitalist marketplace they cannot even consider such an option.
- Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2014)
Joe Higgins: Providing adequate resources for a health service that would comprehensively cater for the entire population of this State should be a key priority for any government. Successive governments have failed dismally to do this, however. During the economic crisis in Irish capitalism in the course of the 1980s, savage cuts were inflicted on our health services. Thousands of beds were cut from...