Results 1,221-1,240 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to express my condolences on the death of Mr. Watson. Over his many years of experience, Mr. Regling has obviously read many reports and he has probably written many reports also. How would Mr. Regling describe this one in terms of it being critical? Would he say it is fairly critical or very critical? How would he describe it himself as a report presented by him?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: How surprised was Mr. Regling that, as he describes it, he found Ireland was a country where it seemed no one was really in charge? That is quite a remarkable thing to say. How surprised was he?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to dwell for a moment on some of the points Mr. Regling made in the report about what people knew, or did not know, about what was going on. He said that with hindsight we know more things and macro-financial prudence has changed. Mr. Regling states on page 35 of his report:... property exposure gave rise to a very risky concentration of risks within certain...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Were they ringing but no one was listening? Mr. Regling talks about the alarm bells in another part of the report. One can have alarm bells ringing all one likes but, as we know, we sometimes just switch them off. Were they ringing or not ringing?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Mr. Regling states on page 39, "it would seem quite surprising if there was no common wisdom to tap that would have pointed to the fact of high concentrations in commercial real estate lending". He seems to be suggesting that common wisdom, the knowledge people had, would have suggested there was a serious problem. I am not clear whether Mr. Regling said people ignored it or simply did not...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: On page 6, Mr. Regling states: "internal procedures were overridden, sometimes systematically." In other parts of the report, he talks about errors of judgment in bank management, major lapses in the documentation of loans, weak risk management, and the failure of corporate checks and balances. If something was systematic and internal procedures were overridden, that means people knew what...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: While the world might have had all sorts of contributing factors that changed our scenario, individuals took an opportunity, perhaps, to go too far, to burn, to enjoy and to override systematically. One can have any set of circumstances but it is what people do with those circumstances that counts. Is that not the case?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: The conclusion really being that there was no one in charge either. Mr. Regling says he spoke to the ECB. With his European experience, how much responsibility does he believe the European Central Bank has for what happened here? His conclusion may be true for other countries too but we are only interested in here.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Does it have a responsibility now as we try to sort ourselves out and as we try to look forward?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank Professor Lane. Given all the changes that occurred in the world, or global financial system, over the 1990s and into the 2000s, were bankers reckless, opportunistic or greedy, or was it just good business to take the chances that were taken?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I suppose it is easy to buy into the narrative if one is actually making money out of it. In light of the existence of global banking corporations, and the fact that banks are bigger and do more than they used to do 100 years ago, is there now an imbalance of power between a central bank and the banking corporations, the centres of profit? Is that a serious problem for any country,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Do they effectively have more power than the Central Bank because they are profit centres and because of the way they operate? Perhaps "clout" is a better word than "power".

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: However, the regulation failed.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: In fairness, some of the evidence that others have stated-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Others have observed that regulation failed so I am saying-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: There is a suggestion there that the Central Bank could not act by itself and that there was a political inclination.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Professor Lane says that at a microeconomic level the property boom could have been countered through reforms that reduced the tax incentives offered to developers and householders. He says that on page 6. Mr. Klaus Regling and Mr. Max Watson report that by 2005, according to the OECD, the cost of tax expenditure had become larger than the remaining income tax receipts. It appears to be...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Can I finish by asking about offshore centres, to which Professor Lane referred? Clearly, financial products have changed over the years. I believe Professor Lane said they become more "innovative". Equally, offshore banking and that whole system has become more innovative. Is there any evidence that financial institutions themselves used those offshore centres to funnel their own profit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: Discussion (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I have two questions anyway, unless someone else has more questions. Can members pair to get finished, unless they absolutely wish to go and vote?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Equality and Fairness of State Pension: Discussion (21 Jan 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: No, can the Deputy pair with Deputy Boyd Barrett?