Results 6,241-6,260 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Some of RTE's most prominent current affairs presenters are on the record as having invested heavily in the property market. Does Mr. Mulhall believe there should be a register of interests and liabilities for current affairs presenters on RTE or, indeed, generally?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: There are some things that people could not know during the bubble, but one thing that was known was the price of homes and how that was inflating. Our researchers show concretely that from 1996 to 2006, the price of a home for an average working person went up each year by the equivalent of the average industrial wage. That happened every year for ten years. That was put down, in many...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: That had a huge impact in enslaving young people with 40-year mortgages and unsustainable levels of debt. Did RTE ever launch an investigative journalism project or initiative to uncover the kind of rampant profiteering that was going on in land speculation and the housing industry, considering the detrimental and hugely negative social impact that had on young people in particular?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Have I time for another question?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Economic Management Council (31 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: 5. To ask the Taoiseach his views on the continuation of the Economic Management Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5464/15]

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: In Mr. Moran's opening statement, on page one, he says:In the period prior to 2008, the commercial real estate market grew strongly, with increasing levels of purchasing, leasing and construction activity. Ireland's economy was performing well, with GDP and employment growth driving the expansion. Quite a number of witnesses who came in here as well as various reports on the banking...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: In that regard, in the research referred to on page 7 of the document he submitted, Mr. Moran said:As a real estate advisory firm, it is our job to advise clients on real estate issues. It is therefore imperative that we understand levels and impact of risk. Prior to the banking crisis, we were advising our clients on the nature and impacts of the property market and how it was performing....

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Does Jones Lang LaSalle deal in development land on which houses will later be built?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: I am aware Mr. Moran's competitors were involved in significant deals with development land which was earmarked for housing. Was Mr. Moran's company involved in such deals?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Does Mr. Moran see a relationship between what happened-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Moran said also on page 7: "By 2008, there was a recognition within the property industry that market conditions were over-heating, however I do not believe that most market participants realised the extent of bank lending to the property market". Mr. Moran was at the coalface. He saw the size of the deals that were going down and the huge increase in price for commercial properties....

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Did developers Mr. Moran acted for not discuss with him how they were going to fund the purchase?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: On page 6, Mr. Moran said, "Irish yields tightened significantly between 2003 and 2006, compressing from 6.00% to 3.70% for prime offices for example. At these levels, international purchasers were priced out of the market, with more competitive yields available in other European countries". Do I understand that European capitalists became wary of what was going on because they felt that...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Yes, but if I could interrupt, Mr. Moran, if they thought there were significant yields in Ireland given that capitalists go where there is profit, why were they so wary as to move?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Should that not have sounded alarm bells with estate agents and developers?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Should that fact have sounded alarms bells with estates agents such as Jones Lang LaSalle and the people they were advising?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Looking at the period from 2002 or 2003 to 2007, Jones Lang LaSalle and estate agents generally would have been market participants in the huge increases in land prices etc. Presumably, estate agents made good money from that. In a book authored by Shane Ross and Nick Webb, on page 161 they say:Looking back at that period, you could have advised a developer to pay tens of millions for a...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Can Mr. Moran tell me a little bit about the syndicates that operated in the market? What was their main field of activity and what was the profile of their participants?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: When Mr. Moran says "high net worth" does he mean very rich people?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (2 Apr 2015)

Joe Higgins: Would they have any expertise in the area they were putting money into?