Results 1,101-1,120 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Senator O'Brien. It is an expletive deleted book. It continues: "No [expletive deleted] Protestant is coming near us. Those establishment [expletive deleted] and Bank of Ireland have been running our country before we came along, and those [expletive deleted] are not going to bring me down. None of them are ever going to look down on us again. We are the outsiders, and this is...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State for his response. We are ad idem on this. In response to these appalling bank crises and flops in the country, let us consider what was the reaction to the first crisis. It was that banks shall not buy insurance companies, or certainly not the one that bought an insurance company in London. We took action against the illegal offshore accounts and the pensions...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 44, line 5, after “with” to insert the following: “The Competition Authority, the National Competitiveness Council and”.These amendments are allied. We were talking to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, last Thursday and saying that we must distinguish, according to the American model, between Wall Street and Main Street....

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Section 49 provides that it may consult with such other persons as the bank considers appropriate. That is what happened. We now have a Central Bank Governor who I hope, and particularly if he is listening to this debate, will consider what something is doing for competition and competitiveness in the Irish economy. However, if the bank does not consider that appropriate, it will not...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 4: In page 59, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:“(d) the measures undertaken by the financial service provider in response to complaints made under this section.”.I wish to discuss the amendment briefly. I do not wish to detain the Minister of State. The amendment proposes that the ombudsman report include information about complaints. We...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: The section does not, however, make any provision for reporting on the actions taken by banks in response to complaints. That is the problem. As well as the categorisation of complaints, we must have categorisation of responses. To say the sector would find anything this Parliament does "unduly burdensome" suggests the people who are supposed to be regulating the banks have some neck. The...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I gather from the rejection of the amendment that the banks do not want the rest of us to know about these decisions. We need a reformed banking system. When people make complaints, the rest of us are entitled to know what was done about them. Or should banks just continue doing what they have been doing for probably well over a decade?

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: With regard to individual complaints, last week we asked for the banks' attention to be drawn to the suggestion that triple damages should be paid. That was rejected and the Minister was supposed to be considering the position. I want to record my disappointment that when it is a case of Parliament versus the banks, the banks always seem to win. I regret that. This is a section stating...

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: No. With deep regret I withdraw the amendment. However, I really regret what is happening here this evening.

Seanad: Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I support the Minister's amendments. It will be extremely difficult to introduce competition into the Irish market in this way because the two pillar banks are so protected. We were doing the same for VHI for a long period and also for CIE and Aer Lingus. If outside investors see one or two companies being supported utterly and totally by the taxpayer, they will find it very difficult to...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Mr. Basil McCrea, MLA, and Mr. John McCallister, MLA. Their hospitality in Stormont is so good that it will be hard for us to live up to that standard. Will the Leader take account of what happened in the House last night in addressing the issue of bank regulation? The Department of Finance and the Central Bank closed ranks against even the mildest reforms in banking regulation in...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: -----and that is no substitute for the independence that these benches bring to the House.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: Aontaím leat.

Seanad: Food Provenance Bill 2013: Second Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I echo the warm words of welcome to the Minister of State. I served with him when he was Chairman of one of the committees of the Houses. I am sure he will do very well in his new role. His predecessor, the late Shane McEntee, was hugely popular everywhere, including in this House. The Bill which I commend to the House is also welcome. It goes without saying Senator Feargal Quinn knows...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I note that in the Financial Times today there is an article by the associate editor, Mr. John Gapper, which states: This week brought two announcements that strike at the distortions caused to banking by cheap credit and the underpricing of risk over past decades. One was the US Federal Reserve's decision to implement the Basel III capital rules, and to add extra measures. The other was...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I will bear that in mind. I am commending the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, and the Leader. This will have unintended consequences. The Bill, if implemented, will do the exact opposite to what the Senator said and it was suggested the European Union would not like it. The European Union is our competitor in this business. It gave us daft rules on the insuring of women in driving...

Seanad: Promoting a Sustainable Future for the Post Office Network: Statements (4 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister to the House. He is well known for his wisdom and his wit although I do not know whether this topic will lend itself to that. Great credit is due to the post office, as the Minister said, for the way in which it has transformed in light of the very strong decline in mail volumes. I note An Post made €2.2 million profit in 2011 and it has reduced its staff by...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the success of the incorporation of the Orange Order march in Donegal last Saturday into The Gathering and the success of the event. The Grand Master of the Orange Lodge of Ireland, Edward Stevenson, told the crowd it was "extremely pleasing" the authorities in the Republic had incorporated the Rossnowlagh event into The Gathering. I gather it is the first time it has happened and...

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (9 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister of State and thank Senators for their contributions. I am learning a great deal, as always, on housing from people such as Senators Aideen Hayden, Senator John Crown and Senator Marc MacSharry. The problem was that in a period when incomes doubled, the price of houses increased by 500%. Nobody partied, so far as I can see, except banks. As Senator John Crown said,...