Results 641-660 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: Is the structural deficit in there as well? Essentially we are talking about all the rules we discussed as part of the fiscal compact.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: Many of these rules are very sensible. It is an awful indictment of politics in Ireland that we have to do this as it is exactly what we should have been doing for years. I would much prefer the Department of Finance to play this role than a group of removed bureaucrats, no matter how good, in Brussels or wherever. Who will do the analysis? When the Government submits its budget in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: Who are these people? For whom do they work? What unit are they? What is the level of oversight? What expertise do they have? What access does the Oireachtas have to vet them? Who is this group of technocrats?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: Great. Perhaps Mr. Gallagher would do that. I agree with something Deputy Doherty said. This is a very substantive loss of sovereignty to the State. I am very comfortable with the Department of Finance doing the analysis. This reinforces for me that these are faceless, invisible, anonymous technocrats somewhere in Europe doing analysis of our budget which I believe is the remit of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: We did to a point, but this goes much further than that. For example, I very reluctantly endorsed a "Yes" vote on the fiscal compact. My biggest concern was the structural deficit. That is absolutely new. It means that the 60% debt to GDP becomes completely irrelevant because the structural deficit mathematics show that the debt to GDP ratio actually is one over X, where X is growth. If...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: May I get Mr. Gallagher's opinion on enforcement mechanisms? We can have what, I hope, will be a useful conversation with the European Commission about the budget to make it as healthy as possible. Ultimately if, having got the Commission's opinion, we fundamentally disagree and are going ahead with the budget as proposed, what power of enforcement does the European Commission have?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: An interest-bearing deposit of 0.2% of GDP equates to €230 million on our current GDP of €160 billion. Is that what we are talking about?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals. (14 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: If we continued to ignore the Commission, that amount could ratchet up significantly.

Electoral (Amendment)(Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Second Stage (20 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: This Bill is a missed opportunity.

Electoral (Amendment)(Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Second Stage (20 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: It reduces the number of Deputies from 166 to 158, which is a reduction of eight or less than 5%. On the basis that each Deputy costs the Exchequer approximately €250,000, that constitutes a saving of approximately €2 million. However, will that make the Oireachtas more effective or will it make democracy more effective in Ireland? It will not, although I believe it could have...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Debt (20 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of mortgage debt the Bank of Ireland has surrendered in the Republic of Ireland to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51262/12]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2013 (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will outline the way the forecasted €2.25 billion cuts for Budget 2013 will be distributed across Government Departments; if he will outline the processes and analysis used to determine this distribution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51921/12]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2013 (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister for his detailed response. I appreciate that he is trying to move in the right direction. I participated in the finance committee's examination of his Department. He will probably agree that it was useless. There was no accountability for the Department's increase of the CER by €88 million. The data we examined were not rigorous. My understanding is that the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget 2013 (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: We must meet them and I assure the Minister that I am not obsessed with process. I am obsessed with getting the right information. There is a large national protest of people with intellectual and physical disabilities and their carers. They are terrified that the Minister or his colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, might decide to cut a further €54 million from them....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Remuneration (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Finance if any correspondence has been entered into with Allied Irish bank, Bank of Ireland and any other banks in which the State has a stake, calling on senior staff to waive a portion of their salaries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51724/12]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Agencies (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the contents of all return correspondence from the National Treasury Management Agency in response to correspondence calling for senior staff to waive a portion of their salaries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51725/12]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Agencies (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the contents of the letter sent to the National Treasury Management Agency at the end of 2011, that reportedly calls on senior staff to waive a portion of their salaries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51726/12]

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Credit Union Bill 2012: Committee Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: The Chair should let me know if the content of this amendment already has been discussed in my absence.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Credit Union Bill 2012: Committee Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: The issue for me in this regard pertains to microfinance. The Credit Guarantee Act and the microenterprise loan fund exclude credit unions from participation. My understanding from credit union representatives to whom I spoke is that while they can make loans for personal reasons, whatever they may be, they are prohibited from making loans for business purposes. I am taking that from them...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Credit Union Bill 2012: Committee Stage (21 Nov 2012)

Stephen Donnelly: Perhaps we can examine this issue a little further. I spent some time working with the World Council of Credit Unions looking specifically at microsavings and microfinance in some extremely disadvantaged parts of the world. I have carried out work in respect of microfinance, which is incredibly powerful. It appears to me as though we have a market failure at present whereby the banks are...