Results 16,461-16,480 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: The Tánaiste has announced it about 100 times. I am trying to make sure it actually happens.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: The third issue is an even more local one. I do not expect the Minister to be aware of it but I want him to become aware of it. It is included in the national development plan and it is a matter of public expenditure. On page 49 of the national development plan, it is stated, "The following regional and local roads will be progressed over the course of the National Development Plan ......

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: It will apparently cost approximately €7 million to deliver this road.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I specifically ask that the timeframe outlined by the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, be changed. Detailed design of the project will be completed in the coming months. It is not a laughing matter. I live in the town.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I must raise the issue to engender some progress. The project would have died in 2010 if I had not intervened. The funding was provided; compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, were completed, and there was planning. Detailed design of the project is under way and will be completed in the coming months, but the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, is telling me to come back in 2022, while the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: The point is that as the project has been included in the plan, this is not a speculative inquiry. It has been included in the development plan for delivery. Therefore, I am entitled to ask about it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Estimates for Public Services 2018
Votes 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister come back to me on the matter?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I wish to raise three issues. The first relates to Brexit. On the question of the relocation of financial services firms to Ireland arising from the UK's decision to leave the EU, has the Minister an estimate of the number of jobs that have been won so far, including jobs that have moved or that have been announced or pledged by firms? Are more announcements in the pipeline? Is he...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: Is there an estimate of the number of jobs that have been confirmed? I appreciate that it is not all about the number. The quality of jobs is important and there are many different strands to the financial services sector. Does the Minister of State have an estimate of what has been confirmed at this point?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I have two other issues. One is the matter of a Single Market for financial services across Europe. We recently had a vice president of the European Commission, Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, here and I raised this issue with him. As the Minister of State knows, Irish borrowers continue to pay well over the European average in interest rates, including both mortgage holders and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I hear the Minister of State but the overall point is that we now have a single supervisory mechanism, SSM, so the largest banks are regulated on a pan-European basis. There is a common standard of regulation across Europe in respect of the larger banks, at least. There is really no reason, in a proper Single Market, Irish consumers should not be able to buy products from these banks. It...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: They are currently trading here. That is not the issue that I am referring to, but how banks regulated at a European level by the SSM cannot sell here or how a customer here cannot avail of their products. It is wrong. It is not a single market and it should be. We can sell beef, butter and milk. We can trade goods and services without barriers but we cannot buy financial services. We...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: That is my point.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: The final issue I wish to raise relates to Vote 10, relating to the Tax Appeals Commission. Currently, the Tax Appeals Commission is not fit for purpose. The Minister provided details to me in a reply to a parliamentary question. I have it before me on my telephone – I am on aeroplane mode, Chairman. More than €1.6 billion in outstanding tax is caught up in the appeals...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I welcome the Minister's comments and commitment to deal with the issue. It is not simply a case of clearing the backlog because the backlog is growing. The Minster referred to the budget being trebled in recent years. The commission received 251 new appeals in January this year, and the number of appeals closed was one. In one month alone this year, there was a net increase of 250...

Motor Insurance: Motion [Private Members] (27 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: I have tabled amendment No. 2 in the name of the Fianna Fáil Party. I welcome this debate and I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling the motion and again generating a debate on motor insurance. When this Dáil was elected one of the first Private Members' motions put forward by our party, in June 2016, was on motor insurance. At the time, premiums were escalating at a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (27 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: 155. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has received consultation briefings from the State supported banks in 2017 and to date in 2018 under the terms of the relationship framework agreement; if so, the details of the briefing; the name of each bank that provided same; the nature of the matter on which he was consulted; his response in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (27 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: 161. To ask the Minister for Finance the status for insurance brokers that refunded persons as a result of the liquidation of a company (details supplied); the position these brokers have in relation to claims on the proceeds of the liquidation; the process these brokers should take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9382/18]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Loan Books Purchasers (27 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: 173. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of a restructuring arrangement entered into by a person with the original lender in the event of the loan being sold to an unregulated loan owner; the position that applies if the restructuring arrangement expires or has a review clause during the tenure of the ownership of the unregulated loan owner; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Loan Books Purchasers (27 Feb 2018)

Michael McGrath: 174. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of a restructuring arrangement entered into by a commercial borrower, such as an SME, with its original lender in the event of the loan being sold to an unregulated loan owner; the position that applies if the restructuring arrangement expires or has a review clause during the tenure of the ownership of the unregulated loan owner; and if he will...