Results 10,141-10,160 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: No, not at all? Okay. Mr. Cowen, did anyone lobby you for a guarantee of bank liabilities during your time as Minister for Finance? So up to May 2008, were you lobbied personally-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----in favour of a guarantee of any kind?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: No. As you know, we heard evidence from Kevin Cardiff that a number of people had made representations or had made their views known in favour of a guarantee. He said Seán FitzPatrick did, for example, through Governor Hurley, in April 2008 ... that former Minister McCreevy, at an event, expressed his view that there should be some political statement behind the banking system. You...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. And his reference in his testimony to a "DD" having suggested the need for a broad guarantee, he couldn't be certain of who DD was referring to; you can't enlighten us on that?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. Why was resolution legislation not prepared in the first five months of 2008, given that you, as a Department, were looking at all of the various scenarios? There was certainly a reference to nationalisation legislation in early 2008 but why was special resolution legislation dealing with a scenario of a bank failing and the need to protect depositors - try to separate them from other...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. So in May 2008-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. So it wasn't being seriously countenanced because of those difficulties, it wasn't seen as feasible?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. So when you were handing over the Department of Finance to the new Minister, Brian Lenihan, in May 2008, how would you characterise the preparedness of the Department for the looming financial crisis, which had started but it certainly hadn't reached the severity that it was going to reach in the succeeding months?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: How prepared was the Department and in what state did you hand it over to Brian Lenihan?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. And, the nature of the handover to Brian Lenihan - we have read the briefing papers he was given from the Department of Finance. Had you any other message for him, in taking on the reins in the Department, as to what you felt the key risks were at that time?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And, Mr. Cowen, in your witness statement which we got, and over the course of the proceedings today, so far, you have acknowledged some mistakes on public spending; that property tax relief should have been rescinded earlier; you've acknowledged the pro-cyclical nature of fiscal policy; the loss of competitiveness in the economy; not challenging the consensus of a soft landing enough; that...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Thank you.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Cowen, would it be fair to say that in the pre-crisis years that there wasn't a full realisation of the interdependent relationship between construction, property, banks and the public finances? And I say that in the sense that when the banks got into liquidity problems initially, construction and property sector collapsed, led to a massive capital shortfall in the...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: In the late 1990s, your predecessor, Minister McCreevy, reduced capital gains tax famously from 40% to 20% and it remained at 20% until late 2008. And when you look back now in view of the amount of land speculation that was going on in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the investment properties, for example, the way in which all of that was feeding into house price growth, do you think that that's...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Just a couple of things I have to tidy up from earlier on in terms of the graph was put up a number of times of the June budget strategy memo, the red and the blue columns showing the actual budget outturn on social welfare and tax packages being significantly above the June memo levels. Can I ask in that context, Mr. Cowen, do you feel that you were sufficiently advised of the potential...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Just to clarify, when you got to your feet in the first week of December to present the budget - that June budget strategy memo - did that still represent the official advice from the Department, despite all the jockeying that had happened in between June and December? Was that still the most current advice, as such, from the Department as to how to frame the budget for the following year?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And very finally, and again, we dealt with this earlier but just to clarify a point on the financial stability reports and any difference between the content of the report and the verbal message conveyed to you by the Governor in the meeting that you would have had, because some, you know, some possible discrepancy may have emerged in evidence and it's a line that we need to deal with. Was...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: You never felt you were getting a different impression from the meeting to the report that you had, presumably, read?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: You'd read the report-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (2 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: It was consistent with the report-----