Results 7,821-7,840 of 26,043 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Surely, Dr. Bacon must have known that the discount was going to be of the order of 60%.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: How can Dr. Bacon reconcile the position he gave to Deputy Doherty, where he said €34 billion was in regard to loans of €80 billion, with the position that, when the report was published on 8 April, he did not know the discounts were going to be that high?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: The banks were not solvent.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: My point is that the report Dr. Bacon provided to Government on 20 March is fundamentally different to the report that was published on 8 April.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Professor Ahearne wrote extensively around the time of the guarantee, and stated that he had questions about the information on the quality of loans that was released by the banks. Does he believe that on the night of the guarantee, Anglo Irish Bank should have been allowed to fail? Does he believe that it should have formed part of the guarantee, or not?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: There was no question of looking at how much this would cost or what potential saving could be made for the taxpayer if Anglo Irish Bank had been kept out of the guarantee. Did that aspect ever come up in discussions?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is it fair to say that if the State had guaranteed just the deposit holders in Anglo, and not the bondholders, there would have been a significant saving to the taxpayer?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Professor Ahearne wrote an article about NAMA in July 2008 in which he said the best practice was for banks to recognise the losses of the loans up front and sell the assets at fair market value. Dr. Bacon, who was before the committee this morning, was the architect of NAMA and he said there were €34 billion in impairments on €80 billion of loans, a write-off of between 50%...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome Mr. Carswell. I wish to clarify something. Page 218 of Mr. Carswell's book refers to the night of the guarantee, when bankers from AIB and Bank of Ireland were in the discussions. Mr. Carswell said that the two banks thought the money would only be needed for the short term as the bankers were led to believe from the discussions that night that Anglo Irish Bank would be...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: In Mr. Carswell's discussions with the banks, and obviously there is the issue of confidentiality, did the issue of nationalising Anglo Irish Bank specifically come up for discussion during the discussions with the Government on the night of the guarantee? When they met in Government Buildings did the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank come up for specific discussion?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: In respect of the discussions Mr. Carswell had with the bankers, did they leave on the night of the guarantee with the distinct impression that Anglo Irish Bank was going to be nationalised the following weekend?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Carswell stated specifically in his book that the two banks were led to believe from the discussions that night that Anglo Irish Bank would be nationalised the following weekend. It is a critical point in terms of the guarantee. Obviously, we are getting evidence from many people appearing before the committee. In Mr. Carswell's view, was the distinct impression given that it would be...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: At that time there was the issue of solvency, particularly with regard to Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society and obviously for the other banks as well. Given the fact that they were considering nationalising Anglo Irish Bank, clearly that gave some indication of issues with solvency. There is a very narrow edge between liquidity and solvency in terms of a rapid run on...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Yes.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is that the famous note of €8.5 billion?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: When did that take place?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Finally, Mr. Carswell said in his statement, with regard to Anglo Irish Bank, that in the post-guarantee period prior to the bank's nationalisation, which was in January 2009, there were more pronounced efforts made by the bank to curry favour in political circles. Will he elaborate on that?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will take up that point. I refer to our political system with multi-seat constituencies and note that Professor Farrell has come from the United Kingdom. In Professor Farrell's view, to what extent has our political electoral system impinged on or had an impact on the efficiency of Parliament?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Kieran O'Donnell: To get the type of change he seeks in terms of the efficiency of Parliament, what does Professor Farrell think of the models in which there is separation of power, such as one has in the United States vis-à-visthe President and Congress? Our system here effectively is a parliamentary system in its entirety, in that people must be elected before they can hold public office. In addition,...