Results 7,301-7,320 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: NAMA can make some contribution.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I have one or two more questions for the chairman of NAMA. It would seem to an outsider that Project Eagle was not handled that well, that there was a lack of judgment in terms of pursuing it, in retrospect. Nine international consortia were involved at the very beginning and we have only talked about the three final ones, Fortress, PIMCO and Cerberus. When the other six were gone and when...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Did they pull out after due diligence?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Had they all-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: If PIMCO was gone and Fortress was clearly not going to meet the reserve and the reserve was public-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: It was clear then to Cerberus that it only had to go one penny above the reserve.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Is it unusual that there should be only two competitors at the end?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Absolutely. Is there not a sense of déjà vuwhen we look at Project Arrow, which is also down to two bidders currently? I am not sure exactly where it is, but the third bidder has pulled out. Goldman Sachs has pulled out, so there is only Apollo and Cerberus left. Cerberus has been involved in the Northern Ireland one in very similar circumstances to what seems to be happening in...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: What is the par value of Arrow?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: What is the reserve price?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: That would be a huge cut on the par price, would it not?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I was going to ask about Project Jewel, which seems to be the jewel in the crown, but perhaps somebody else will do that. It seems to be quite a successful achievement. It will give the witnesses the opportunity to talk about the good things as well as the question marks. I want to make a point which relates to the SDZ in the docklands. NAMA has been in existence since 2010 and we are...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Well, not just to move-----

Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes Funding (6 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss this important issue. This problem has come out of the blue. Supervisors of community employment schemes are discovering when renewing insurance premiums that the cost of insurance has increased by exorbitant sums. Some have been quoted a threefold increase in the cost of insurance, which is unprecedented. In addition, no...

Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes Funding (6 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I thank the Minister of State for his reply and note the points he made. The industry provided four reasons for the increase in the cost of insurance premiums, namely, claims cost inflation, an increase in claims frequency in recent years, changes in the courts' jurisdiction, and reductions in income from insurers' investments. It would be interesting to have these factors quantified by the...

Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. The text of the Bill is simple and straightforward and it provides for the dissolution of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and the transfer of its functions to Dublin City Council. Despite its simplicity, it is very far reaching in its implications. Passage of the Bill will mark the end of a bold experiment to...

Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I thought the Chair was giving me 24 minutes. I welcome the Minister of State. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill is intended to transfer the functions and liabilities of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority to Dublin City Council. I went through in some detail my concerns about the activities of the DDDA and the need to put in place mechanisms to ensure...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: As the Chairman will be aware, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill is before the Dáil. When it is passed it will have transferred the functions of the authority to Dublin City Council. I do not know what are the implications of that for the relevance of a non-existing board coming before this committee. How are we getting on with the report we are putting...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I suggest that in the context of the work programme we would agree a date for them to come in before the legislation is passed. I do not know how long it will take but the legislation will be dependent on a ministerial order stipulating the date on which the functions will transfer, so I imagine it will be at least some weeks, at the very earliest, before the legislation can be passed.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Ideally, we will have the 2014 accounts.