Results 781-800 of 10,460 for speaker:Gerry Horkan

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (23 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Time, Senator.

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (23 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: As there are no further Senators offering, I invite the Minister of State to respond. He has five minutes.

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (23 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: The order of the House is five minutes, but I will exercise my discretion when we reach that point.

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (23 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I have given the Minister of State 30 minutes so far and he has addressed four of the ten speakers. Perhaps he could be more brief. We are supposed to conclude by 3.30 p.m. at the latest. Perhaps the Minister of State will go as quickly as he can.

Seanad: The Diaspora: Statements (23 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: That was almost 20 minutes of a response. I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I thank all Senators for their contributions this afternoon. That item is now concluded. When is it proposed to sit again?

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: As many other speakers, I pass on my sympathies to the wife and family of Peter Mathews, who was a constituent of mine in my old Stillorgan electoral area before I ever became a constituent of his in Dublin South. The first time I met Peter was in a professional capacity as a county councillor back in 2003. He was, as many people have said, an absolute gentleman, a very nice person and a...

Seanad: Communications Regulation (Postal Services) (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (28 Feb 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Kyne, for being present for this important debate. I too am substituting on behalf of my Seanad colleague, Senator Leyden, who is at a British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in London. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Communications Regulation (Postal Services)...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Before we proceed, I wish to record in public the decisions taken by the committee on EU proposals. It is item No. 9 on our agenda - EU scrutiny decisions of the committee on EU proposals for noting on the public record. The committee agreed that the following package of EU proposals relating to financial risk reduction measures warrant further scrutiny: COM (2016) 850; COM (2016) 851; COM...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: We will now proceed to item No. 10 which is a discussion on the Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau strategic plan for 2017 and tracker mortgage issues with Mr. Ger Deering, the Financial Services Ombudsman, and Ms Elaine Cassidy, the deputy Financial Services Ombudsman. They are both very welcome to our meeting. Before we hear from our witnesses I have to read out a note on privilege. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I thank Mr. Deering and Ms Cassidy for their opening statements. On the establishment of the new merged entity and the strategic plan itself, why has it been determined necessary for the FSO to implement this change plan and to change the way that it is delivering its services? Is there an acknowledgment that there were deficiencies in the previous working model?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: The office is committed to issuing within three working days a written response to complaints received and to follow up with a phone call within a week. Has the office adhered to those benchmarks and is a tracking system in place to make sure it has or has not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: That brings me on to my next question. For cases that go to through the formal investigation process and ultimately adjudication, how many of those have been completed within the target of 20 weeks of the commencement of the formal investigation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Is it too early to say whether the office has or has not been able to meet these new targets?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Of those 2,200 that were outstanding in the old process from a year ago, how many have been resolved? Are we still on 2,100? Are we down to 800?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Does the 2,200 include trackers as well?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Approximately 1,500 are closed in their entirety. There are 300 coming to some kind of conclusion and 400 more are trackers, which are a separate issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: They are new complaints dealt with in the new process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I was inquiring because sometimes legacy systems are inherited and put in the corner, as it were, while the new stuff takes precedence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: The office states that it communicates progress to complainants throughout the dispute process. How does that communication take place and how frequent is it? Can people look at their complaints online or are updates by phone, e-mail or letters provided?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau - Strategic Plan 2017 and Tracker Mortgage Issues: Discussion (2 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Is it fair to say that the level of phone mediation was not expected to be so high? Does that result in efficiencies within the process? One can deal with many more complaints per hour on the phone that one can if arranging meetings and scheduling them every half an hour or hour or so.