Results 7,421-7,440 of 26,043 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (17 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Mr. Nyberg.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Wright is not making that case?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is clear from Mr. Wright's report that he is not a fan of social partnership. For example, on page 23 he states: [A] very poor budgetary process obscured ministerial and Government accountability to Parliament, and was overwhelmed by other spending processes – Programmes for Government and Social Partnership.On page 25, he goes on to state:Over the ten year period of review, the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Wright is quite emphatic in his report on this point when he says, "the Budget essentially paid the bills for these dominant processes". On page 28, the report states: Had departmental and ministerial advice to Cabinet at the start of the budgetary cycle been accepted and sustained, Ireland would have been better positioned to deal with the current economic challenges.At the same time,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Over that ten-year period there was a clear difference. It was like a runaway train. Proposals were developed every June, which were probably incomplete. Was Mr. Wright using social partnership as scapegoat when the real problem was that there was a deficiency of skills within the Department?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask the Chairman to allow me the extra time.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I would like the witness to answer me

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will repeat it. It is a very important question. Social partnership worked, in the main, over that period. There were certain issues. Was Mr. Wright scapegoating social partnership in order to overlook the deficiencies within the Department in terms of proper advice?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am putting the question. It is clear that the report is critical of the Department across a range of areas. It is fair to say that there was a lack of any sort of banking expertise within the Department of Finance at the time.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Based on that, how can the report state that the Department was fit for purpose?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Over those ten years, was it fit for purpose? Over the period covered by Mr. Wright in examining what happened in 2008, when taxpayers were lumbered with €64 billion, can the witness in all faith state that the Department was fit for purpose?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: On point 13 on page six, the report states, "We have been direct in our analysis and advice, but do not accept the notion that the Department is not fit for purpose."

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Over the ten years leading up to 2008, does the witness believe the Department was fit for purpose?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: So it was not fit for purpose.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does he believe-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: To go in another direction, if the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, was part of the Department and there was a proper banking expertise within the Department, would it then have been fit for purpose? That relates to dealing with a banking crisis.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Can I just go back to one issue, the budget packages graph, which was on page 22, and the difference between what the officials would have brought to the Minister in June with the framework and what effectively would happen on budget day itself? Did you get the opportunity to look at what were the additional measures brought in on budget day? One thing that is striking is that up to April...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Interest relief on borrowings was allowed against rental income. That was basically disallowed for the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Then in the 2002 budget and the Finance Act 2002, it was reintroduced at 100%. That obviously fuelled a further bubble, and it just so happened to coincide with an election year. Did you get the opportunity to look at what exactly filled that wedge? That...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Did Mr. Wright get the opportunity to look at any years? Clearly, that is the critical element. His report states that what was brought by the officials was relatively prudent and then every year, apart from 2003, over a ten-year period, the budget was far in excess of what was being proposed by officials. Looking over that ten year period, does Mr. Wright believe the way the economy was...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Dec 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Does Mr. Wright think it would be a worthwhile body of work for this committee to examine what made up the differentials between what the officials would have proposed to the Minister and what we had on budget day? Clearly, it is the area that fuels in terms of fiscal overspend.