Results 11,141-11,160 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Oireachtas Expense Allowances. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It should also be noted that those who are assigned to assist in constituency offices are expressly prohibited in the terms of their contracts from engaging in political work. That said, I will take into account what the Deputy has said and I agree that whatever is adopted on expenses for Members of the House must equally apply to Ministers.

Budget Submissions. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The basis of the expenditure savings for 2009 was set out in my budget of 14 October 2008 and supplementary budget of 7 April 2009. A range of instruments has been developed in the human resource area to contribute to the implementation of these savings, notably the incentivised scheme of early retirement in the public service, ISER, the special Civil Service career break scheme, ICB, and...

Budget Submissions. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I cannot give a precise estimation at this stage. However, the procedure adopted on the McCarthy report has been that it was circulated to each Department and it is being examined, Department by Department, in the context of the Estimates process. Each Department is being interrogated on the report's recommendations and on what contribution it can make to savings within public expenditure....

Budget Submissions. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The incentivised early retirement scheme was open from 1 May but, following various extensions, it closed on 23 October. I do not have an up-to-date figure for the Deputy this afternoon.

Budget Submissions. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will arrange for that to be forwarded to the Deputy. Clearly, the question of the balance of expenditure and taxation is a matter of political decision for the Government and will be announced in the budget. As I made clear time and again, the scope for additional taxation is limited. The bulk of any adjustment in the case of the €4 billion must be located on the expenditure side.

State Banking Sector. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy will be aware, on 26 June 2009 the European Commission approved, under EU treaty state aid rules, a recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank of €4 billion. The State investment occurred in the form of ordinary shares to help preserve an adequate level of core tier 1 capital. Part of the recapitalisation was used to buy back at a significant discount certain outstanding...

State Banking Sector. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Not as bluntly as that.

State Banking Sector. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: No, I do not accept what Deputy O'Donnell says because it is not a policy that is capable of implementation. What is capable of implementation is, first, what has been required since last February, namely, that the bank be stabilised. The effect of the National Asset Management Agency approach will be to stabilise Anglo Irish Bank. Whatever bonds are issued on foot of that are issued by...

State Banking Sector. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: NAMA, for all practical purposes, amounts to a bad bank in the case of Anglo Irish Bank. The completion of the NAMA exercise will then enable the making of a strategic decision in regard to the direction the bank should take. Given the character and size of the risk the bank posed to the economy since last February, the downsizing of the loan books, which NAMA entails, will be a welcome...

State Banking Sector. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: All of these questions can be weighed up on the completion of the NAMA process but, as I said earlier, the rapid wind-down of a bank of this type, after the removal of the at-risk assets in it, will only accelerate a loss to the taxpayer.

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy is aware, in February of this year, the Government decided to pursue a general 8% reduction on fees to legal, medical, veterinary and other professionals engaged by the public service from 1 March 2009. My Department wrote to each Department outlining how this decision should be implemented. I have informed this House previously that I have received advice in regard to the...

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: To take the contentions made by the Deputy in turn, first, an estimated figure of €23 million to date was cited by her. Of course, the bulk of that sum was discharged by the banks themselves as part of the recapitalisation arrangement - the banks were obliged under the recapitalisation arrangements to defer these expenses. In view of the crisis that emerged in September 2008, Merrill...

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: With the sanction of the Government, the Department is recruiting an in-house banking analyst to analyse bank matters. That person will be appointed as a civil servant within the Department, although it was not possible to appoint such a person by way of transfer from an existing Department. I was advised at the outset of the banking crisis that the Department required such advice, and that...

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is the civil servant to whom I referred in my reply to Deputy Morgan.

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I do not have that information to hand. Merrill Lynch staff were constantly on call and available up to and during the guarantee period, during subsequent discussions with the financial institutions, in connection with the decisions surrounding the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank, and in decisions surrounding the capitalisation of Bank of Ireland and AIB. As Merrill Lynch had been...

Financial Services Regulation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will arrange for the information to be provided to the Deputy.

Price Inflation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Prices set in the public sector make up only about 4% of the basket of goods and services used in compiling the consumer price index. However, public sector prices make up a much smaller component than in the past. Some services such as telecoms have been privatised, and the setting of more prices has been devolved to independent regulators, particularly in the energy sector. Prices in the...

Price Inflation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I did not indicate in my answer that these are matters in which the Government has no function. I indicated that the sectors to which the Deputy referred were sectors in which the prices were set by the Commission for Energy Regulation. Electricity and gas tariffs are the responsibility for the CER, and that is the statutory position. With respect, they are not the responsibility of the...

Price Inflation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: No, but it is pertinent as well. The Deputy did give the example of electricity, and the regulator there is responsible-----

Price Inflation. (3 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes, but the Deputy did not give an example of those areas, but an area which is of great importance and which is under the tariff control of a regulator. I have considerable sympathy for the point the Deputy has expressed. If we are to grapple with our problems, it is not enough simply to have an adjustment in the public sector or an adjustment in the competitive public sector. We also...