Results 7,381-7,400 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: But perhaps. Mr. Dunne, was it in the ether of the establishment thinking? And, for example, as a representative formerly of a big business organisation yourself, would you be predisposed to very little regulation?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Begg, if I could just ask yourself the ... the same question to begin with - the process of appointment as a board member to the Central Bank how you were approached, was there a nomination or selection and what was the process for renomination or extension of your term?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: And why were you appointed, do you think?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Then, Mr. Begg, you became General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in 2010.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Yes, of course, 2001. Excuse me. Did you see yourself as a representative of workers on the board of the Central Bank from then on?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: So you didn't report to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in relation to ... I'm not saying confidential stuff, but the issues of the day as they would affect working people?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: But with respect, Mr. Begg, how ... I mean, considering the decisions of the Central Bank and, indeed, the regulator, have such profound effects on working people, how could you, kind of, separate the two?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: But you didn't see yourself, specifically, as a representative of working people and their interest in how you operated on the board?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Trade union movement meaning hundreds of thousands of workers, is-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Just moving on, Mr. Begg, would ... to quote from your statement: With the enactment of the Central Bank of Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act in 2003, I was re-appointed to the board of the Central Bank but not to the Authority. Thus I had no further involvement in supervision or regulation of the Banks. And then again you say: The 2003 Act was fairly specific about the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: You ... the ... well, maybe we could put up the memorandum of understanding-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Yes, it's page 3.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: This is a memorandum of understanding between the Central Bank board and Governor and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Yes, we ... it's coming up.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Yes, if we see there that the board's responsibilities, therefore, involve-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: We're on the page, yes.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: The highlighting is actually making more difficult. I'll just go to point 3 there, Mr. Begg: ... responsibilities therefore involve: iii) overview of the domestic financial system as a whole. The Governor and-or Board will advise all relevant parties on the implications for financial stability of developments in domestic and international markets and payment systems. and assess the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: But Mr. Begg, you said in your statement, your referred to a witness here saying that a member of the board says, "It was all a house of cards and would end in tears". And what you said is you're not sure if it was you, but it could have been you because that's how you felt. So how did you feel at the time?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Can we look at the ... the Allied Irish Bank document that I've just put up there? And this is a review by AIB in relation to the amounts of lending from 1998 to 2008, and you see there that general loans and advances increased by 330% in AIB, 325% in Bank of Ireland, Anglo 1,950%. Now property advances, which is the next series - 935% at AIB, 2,884% in Bank of Ireland, and 2,155% in Anglo,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Begg, the price of a home, we had evidence here, for an ordinary working person from '96 to 2006 increased each year by the equivalent of the average industrial wage; each year. Were you screaming about that as a worker's representative in the inside of the Central Bank?