Results 5,881-5,900 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Wright speaks in his report of advice given by Department officials which was not taken by the Minister, or essentially the Government, in some areas. He spoke to many staff in the Department of Finance. Did anybody come to Mr. Wright and show that he or she very strongly warned against what was going on in the property sector, including the policies that the Government was implementing...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: I confess to being surprised that less than one page of Mr. Wright's 48-page report, which really arises from the crisis that arose from the bubble that was blown up in the construction property sector, deals with construction policy vis-à-visthe Department of Finance. In that chapter, I quote, "Based on departmental advice, the Government took some limited action to moderate tax...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: Did that indicate a very narrow range of thinking within the Department? In this country, there was a debate for decades on building land prices and how they increased massively at various times, thus pushing up the price of a home, etc. There has been a debate on whether there should be measures to control that, or measures to control people who buy up large numbers of houses to rent and...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: Yesterday, Mr. Nyberg said the house price increase was a result of speculation by those for whom this was possible and also a result of their being financed primarily by banks. In this committee we are so circumscribed by legislation we are almost afraid to admit we are human at times, but I must confess to a certain frustration, having read four or five reports, that although Mr. Wright...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Wright has many observations about pro-cyclical financing and policies. Does he have a view on whether it is healthy for society or the economy that there is unrestrained profit taking, for example in the housing industry; that this does not seem to be a problem for the political establishment or others and that no proposals to curb that have come forward?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: On page four of his report Strengthening the Capacity of the Department of Finance, Report of the Independent Review Panel, Mr. Wright states: We met a large number of people from the political system, officials from the Department, individuals from the broader Public Sector and those with an interest in, and interaction with, the Department...We enjoyed complete access to departmental...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: On page 62 of the report, which deals with the financial services division of the Department he states: The Division is also responsible for supporting the appropriate development of international financial services in Ireland which have been a major contributor to growth and employment.Is there not a major contradiction, similar to the financial regulator, which was responsible for promoting...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: What is the balance of the financial services division, which is promoting a sector which Mr. Wright states has been a major contributor to growth and employment, whereas others would say that in the course of the bubble being blown up that same sector was responsible for the crisis that cost many jobs? Does Mr. Wright see the contradiction in that?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: In his report, Mr. Wright focuses a great deal on pro-cyclical fiscal policy but does not, as I pointed out earlier, have a great deal to say with regard to property and construction. Is he saying that the pro-cyclical fiscal policy was more responsible for the crash than the property bubble and all that went with it? The report is also very critical of the decision to remove the lowest...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Joe Higgins: Responsibility for the crash - primarily, banking or pro-cyclical policies?

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: Why not?

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: Legislation.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Water Meters Installation (14 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: 275. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of reports that the Health and Safety Authority have received to date from members of the public of incidents arising from building contractors installing or attempting to install water meters in residential areas on behalf of Irish Water; the number of occasions the Health and Safety Authority has conducted...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: I have a general question first for the Governor. Some people would feel that in terms of a new report and indeed in other reports, in trying to get to this mystery of why there was not an intervention to stop the property bubble from being blown up, there is too much tiptoeing through the tulips and that we can get to a very fundamental reason. Is it the case that the property bubble was...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: The Governor agrees.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: Okay. Let us-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: Let us move on, then. I have to say we are making excellent progress so far. In page 109 of his report the Governor states, to paraphrase him, that the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank were mandated by legislation to pursue two goals: financial stability on the one hand and then on the other promotion of the financial sector-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: -----which you say may well have been in conflict.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: He stated that while the stability goal was given explicit priority, the potential conflict between the two goals complicated choices. Let us be concrete about that. The promotion of the financial sector must mean inviting banks in and encouraging existing banks to flourish. The banks' raison d'étreis the maximisation of profit. The property bubble was the site for making the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (15 Jan 2015)

Joe Higgins: Professor Honohan says on page 109 that the Financial Regulator was in a difficult position, as the possible adverse effects of discouraging inward investment in the Irish financial services sector were more immediate and real than the perceived distant concerns about financial stability. Is he saying there that proper effective regulation would discourage investment in the IFSC?