Results 1,021-1,040 of 10,460 for speaker:Gerry Horkan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (21 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I thank all the witnesses for coming here this afternoon, their statements in advance and on the day and their interaction with all of the members. It has been a very comprehensive afternoon and we look forward to Thursday's meeting where we might get to put some of the points raised by the witnesses on behalf of members and their organisations to those officials and the Registrar for Credit...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I have a relatively brief point. I ask the Leader to raise, with the Minister for Health, I presume, the issue of the disabled drivers' medical board of appeal. If a person applies for disabled driver status and it is not granted automatically, there is an appeal mechanism in place. I have a letter here from the secretary to the disabled drivers' medical board of appeal thanking me for my...

Seanad: Reports on Motor Insurance Costs: Statements (22 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I welcome the opportunity to debate the report of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on the rising cost of motor insurance and the report of the working group on same. Almost immediately following the establishment of the aforementioned Oireachtas committee last June, the unsustainable rising cost of motor insurance was identified as an urgent issue...

Seanad: Reports on Motor Insurance Costs: Statements (22 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Our final speaker, as of now, is my fellow member of the joint committee, Senator Paddy Burke.

Seanad: Reports on Motor Insurance Costs: Statements (22 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Before I go back to the Minister of State, I would like to acknowledge that Eoin Hartnett, our policy adviser from the joint committee on finance, is in the Visitors Gallery. He was very closely involved with putting our reports together and I thank him for his work. I invite the Minister of State to make his concluding remarks.

Seanad: Reports on Motor Insurance Costs: Statements (22 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I thank the Minister of State for his very comprehensive response. He was devoting an average of approximately three minutes to each speaker. Just 29 minutes and 45 seconds after he begun, I am thanking him for his response. I thank all Senators who contributed to the debate. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating for all of us as we see our insurance renewal notices arrive year...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Mr. Carville is aware of the interaction between the committee and the various bodies that were in attendance on Tuesday. There was a palpable sense of frustration and anger in terms of them being on the merry-go-round, as they call it, where the Department of Finance say it is the regulator and the regulator says it is the Department of Finance while someone else says it is the Department...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Are the existing restrictions on investment appropriate or could they be adjusted in terms of other relatively risk-free types of investment? The credit unions seem to be frustrated. It has almost got to the stage where they do not want to take in deposits because they are putting them in banks where they are getting a negative interest rate. They are being charged by the banks to mind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: While it is appropriate that they be looked at, does Mr. Carville envisage the Department either having or not having enormous concerns about the idea that those investment criteria would be adjusted and broadened out? There are very few places that credit unions can invest their funds. They are in an unusual position of having €11 billion on deposit and wanting to make investments...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I was happy to be in the Chair when I was questioning the representatives of some of the bodies that appeared before the committee on Tuesday. They were agitated about the cost of the new regulatory environment under which they believe they are operating vis-à-visa previous environment. I tried to tease out with them if they consider it to constitute excessive regulation. I did not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Somebody is sharpening their steak knife as we speak.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: What about the breaches of regulations that have occurred?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I have a couple of further points. One of the points made by the bodies on Tuesday was that there is a deficit of meaningful engagement with both the Central Bank, with which we can deal in the next segment, and the Department. The Credit Union Advisory Committee's report highlighted that the sectors concerned need to be taken on board and that serious engagement needs to take place. What...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I do not doubt that everything the delegates are saying is 100% true but the tone I am hearing regarding the interaction and list of meetings Mr. Carville outlined is quite different from that of the credit union sector. Mr. Carville heard what the representatives were saying because he was watching the footage of the meeting. There is a palpable sense of frustration. The credit unions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: I thank Ms McKiernan for her opening statement and her interaction thus far. I will develop Senator Paddy Burke's point on deposits. Ms McKiernan refers to self-imposed limits. At the moment, even if they were not imposing limits, the question is what they do with money that they take in that they are effectively being charged by the bank a cost to mind. That is what we were told on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Ms McKiernan is the regulator, not the credit unions' adviser, but has she any advice or suggestions for a credit union that is effectively turning away deposits on how they can resolve that quandary that they find themselves? I take the point that there are things they can do, including finding younger people and developing the business model. Is there anything else?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Responsibly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: For most people to borrow they must have saved in the first place. To save means putting in deposits but to do that brings us back to the issue we are in. Part of that is the investment capability in terms of what the credit unions are allowed to invest in, which is quite restricted. I am sure there are reasons it is as restrictive as it is. On Tuesday, we got issues on the very strict...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: However, the Central Bank is open to the idea of broadening it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

Gerry Horkan: Is there scope to amend the Act or to introduce new legislation to broaden the scope or eliminate some legislative restrictions appropriately and prudently?