Results 17,541-17,560 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I welcome Ms McDonagh and her colleagues. I will start by asking for the witnesses' perspectives on the housing market and what Bank of Ireland's expectations and forecasts are on housing because it has quite a good overview of the market, is dealing with builders and developers on the supply side and dealing with home buyers. We have seen significant house price growth in recent times, so...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: Does Ms McDonagh think that supply is coming when that mismatch of 25,000 units of a shortfall year on year is looked at? Supply is increasing but the demand is very strong so does that provide for continuing house price growth for the foreseeable future until supply comes somewhere close to meeting demand?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: In regard to the mortgage market, Bank of Ireland's core offering is centred on fixed rates and cashbacks. In the table of rates provided, the lowest rate offered by Bank of Ireland is 3%, fixed across a number of loan-to-value bands for between one and five years. In the past few days, Ulster Bank has announced a new, two-year fixed rate of 2.3%, which is 70 basis points lower than Bank of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: We have discussed the cashback issue previously and I have a different view on it. I am not a great fan of cashbacks as I feel they serve to camouflage high mortgage rates and it is very difficult for consumers to weigh up where the best long-term value lies as the picture can be quite confusing. Can the bank provide us with apro forma, or an anonymised version, of the information it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: Did the bank have to amend or withdraw some advertisements relating to these incentives, following the Central Bank review?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: Can Mr. O'Beirne also provide anonymised examples of what the bank provides to consumers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I see from the questionnaire that there are still 53,000 mortgage accounts on standard variable rates, SVRs. Given what Ms McDonagh said about nine out of ten new mortgage drawdowns starting on a fixed rate these are, in effect, legacy accounts. The bank's variable rates are high because they are not its core offering, at 3.9%, 4.2% and 4.5%. I am concerned that a lot of the bank's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I wish to clarify one point. The figure I quoted was for the number of accounts - 53,000 - whereas the number of customers is 43,600.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I have a couple of quick questions. Are the bank's plans to re-enter the broker market proceeding?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: Will this complement Bank of Ireland's branch network or will it be focused on areas where it does not have a branch?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I wish to ask about the bank's new strategic plan. I note it held an investor day in London last month. Bank of Ireland is targeting quite significant reductions in its cost base, reducing to €1.7 billion by 2021. The bank is investing €250 million to, as the plan describes, "broaden the extent of transformation to deliver business model benefits and accelerate the reduction...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: What percentage reduction in Bank of Ireland's cost base will be achieved by getting it down to €1.7 billion by 2021? What is the comparable current figure?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: What percentage of Bank of Ireland's cost base is accounted for by staff costs, that is, salaries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: If one does the sums, it is clear it will not be possible to reduce the cost base by the targets the bank has set out without reducing payroll costs. Is Ms McDonagh saying that while she acknowledges the headcount will fall, there is no formal programme to bring that about? Is there a particular target? There are reports about stripping out layers within middle management, bringing senior...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: -----but Ms McDonagh is not putting figures on any of that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: What is Ms McDonagh's perspective on what is causing the drag on the share price of the bank? It was above €8 in January of this year. It is currently around €6.70. That is a significant fall in share price. To what do does Ms McDonagh attribute that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Bank of Ireland (5 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: As such, it is not attributable to anything particular to Bank of Ireland.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I would like to share time with Deputy Michael Moynihan.

Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this Second Stage debate. I am pleased that this Bill has finally been introduced. Now that we have a chance to discuss it, its progress through the legislative process can commence in a meaningful way. It has to be acknowledged that over two years have passed since the review of the motor insurance compensation framework and over four years have...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McGrath: 166. To ask the Minister for Finance when the next quarterly update is being published by the cost of insurance working group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30052/18]