Results 69,681-69,700 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Business of Select Committee (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: Apologies have been received from Deputies Matthews and Doherty. I now propose to go into private session to deal with housekeeping matters.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Chairman. I will ask Dr. Kelly about the hedging which he referred to in the energy market. To what extent has anybody in authority investigated the manner in which it works? We all understand how it works - they have to project ahead and when the shock is coming, they hedge - but when they revert, it is not so clear. There is always the question among both commercial and...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: No.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: It is whether the containment measures, such as interest rate increases and so on, should be shorter, sharper increases in order to slow it down and go back to what the original target is supposed to be. For example, if we are in the business of reducing inflation, what is the best way to do it? Will we do it on an annual basis for five years and strangle ourselves in the course of it so it...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: My time is up but I may have an opportunity to come in again later.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: A point occurred to me which presents a challenge to governments, some more than others. To my mind, there is a possibility that the same rules do not seem to apply right across Europe. The costs are different. We are in the European Union and we have a Single Market, which is supposed to deliver in a particular way, but I do not know whether it does. There are exceptions to that. The...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests and thank them for their contributions, not only now but over the years. I have had occasion, as I am sure everybody has had from time to time, to question some of the decisions and opinions at particular times. The difficulty is from the point of view of the experiences of the past. How much have we learned? We are in a pretty difficult situation at present, not...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: In the witnesses’ opinions, do they see a need for a correlation between the totality of the national debt, the need for reserves and for putting money aside for any shocks that might occur in the future and the domestic demand arising from the cost-of-living crisis? How do we get the right balance there?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Cathaoirleach.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I thank our guests for coming before the committee. It is part of a long day of similar discussions. There are a number of instruments to deal with inflation. Which is the most effective, in the opinion of IFAC, without referring to policy? Sometimes there were credit controls in the past, specifically aimed at certain areas. That can be difficult as well. Increasing interest rates is a...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: Just for a second. Is it not a safe economic policy to follow at all times to be able to intervene and change the impetus if necessary, based on information emerging at the time? The EU made some such policies some years ago. It continued with the policy without necessarily changing it until it was too late. Is it not a good thing for governments at all times to observe the changes taking...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: Could I ask for a clearer definition of windfall versus core spending or whatever? For example, I would presume that there is a difference between the two. Windfall spending is rising to the occasion when it is necessary to deal with a particular problem in a particular way, given the economic circumstances prevailing at the time. I identify core spending as regular spending that is needed...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: How does IFAC view the principles, which I think are correct, of setting savings aside, whether it is called a rainy day fund, a sovereign fund or whatever? Having regard to the degree to which Ireland is a small country affected by economic shifts and changes outside the country to a large extent, how does the IFAC see such funds evolving? For instance, there are those who say that we need...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: Many of Professor McMahon's proposals, and I have attended these meetings throughout the summer and before the recess many times, carry the wish, and I can understand that from past experience, of spreading the tax burden or increasing the tax burden. My question then follows, does that affect inflation? By spreading the burden, does it affect inflation to a greater or lesser extent given...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: Is Professor McMahon satisfied that inflation is being reduced to the greatest extent possible by the measures taken so far, which are essentially increases in interest rates?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: By how much?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I thank Professor McMahon.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I agree with Dr. McDonnell. To prepare for shocks, we need to refer to trends on an ongoing basis with a view to trying to avoid the kind of shocks that we have had in the past. Does he think that our current national debt functions in the proper direction and is proportionately dropping according to the strength of the economy? Giving that the growth of the economy will have an impact on...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I have a final question. What would the witnesses say to people on the average industrial wage or on €50,000 or thereabouts who complain, with justification, that they have little spending capacity, are facing difficulties in cost-of-living matters and that these issues are continuing? What is the best means of addressing the situation of that particular group? On the basis of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Issues: Central Bank (20 Sep 2023)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests and thank them for their attendance and the information they have given. I support the points raised earlier by Deputy Doherty on the deficiencies in various housing developments all over the country and the various issues that have arisen in regard to defects. I strongly support the encouragement to bring together all the constituent bodies that might have had, or...