Results 20,241-20,260 of 35,894 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I do not underestimate the challenges Mr. Byrne inherited in terms of the amount of the bank's losses and some of the practices that took place in the bank during the height of the boom. We are approaching the end of this year and at the mid-point of the year there were 13,325 principal dwelling homes in mortgage arrears of 90 days or more. Can Mr. Byrne give a best estimate of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will move on to another issue, but with respect, it is the same spiel – engagement, engagement, engagement - but there must be a point where the situation is resolved and the bank does something different. The bank holds 569 vacant properties following repossessions. Permanent TSB is also owned by the State and when one takes the properties owned by the two institutions, more...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will go to the final issue, namely, tracker mortgages but I do not believe we share the same concern. Given that we pumped €21 billion into the bank, I believe AIB should announce today to the committee that the 569 houses will be made available immediately to deal with the pressures experienced by people who are in emergency accommodation. The houses are lying vacant. It is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: It is 13% of the bank's loan to value and 17% of its loan take-up was done on an exception basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I mentioned the 13% and 17% given that the witnesses provided it to us in the information. The bank was entitled to 15% loan to value exemptions and 20% on the loan to income. However, the bank finished with 17% in the scope period. Are we to read from this that nobody who applied to the bank was deemed affordable but could not get the lending because of the rules? Was this was the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the clarification that the figures are for the overall industry. One in five of the value of all loans the bank will issue can be above the loan-to-value ratio of 80%. How does the bank inform customers that they may be entitled to it? Say, a person who wants to trade up is examining these calculations and wants to buy a house which costs €300,000. The person...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: May I offer that the bank needs to be more proactive in terms of advertising the fact that the ratio is not cast iron and that people who do not have a 20% deposit are not locked out? People who are more connected or tuned in are able to go to the bank and ask to be considered for one of the exceptions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The sanctions are way over the level of drawdowns, and they have been consistently. The number of sanctions has been increasing regularly since 2014. Can the witnesses explain why the level of drawdowns is so weak in comparison to the level of sanctions? In the context of the idea that we need to create more demand, one third of the loans the bank has authorised have not been drawn down in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The Dáil finished late last night. Our final division was at 2.45 a.m. For my sins, I read the Central Bank's document afterwards. It is very sad. I was waiting for my "Morning Ireland" interview and I thought if I fell asleep I might pull a Conor Lenihan, so I decided I was better to try to stay awake. There was an issue with the risks of the bank. It is stated in the Central Bank...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I am sorry for being delayed, but I followed some of the discussion in my office. I welcome the Minister of State to the committee and wish him well with his final report. When he appeared before us previously, I asked that he would request of the industry a number of cases that were outliers in terms of insurance increases. We are familiar with the CSO figures on annual increases in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that and we are at one on the importance of data and raw data. Reference was made earlier to the statistics released by the industry rebutting claims by the Law Society of Ireland. This information, which was provided by the industry to the Minister of State on request, was about the average increases in legal costs over a three-year period. Everybody knows that when one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: No, it is not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: No, I appreciate that and the Minister of State knows that we will try to work to ensure the legislation is as robust as possible to make sure we get to the outcome both he and this committee want to see in this regard. While I was driving back to my hotel in the early hours of this morning after dealing with the Finance Bill, I listened to the Minister of State and George Hook, although,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I am sorry if it-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The numbers should never be repeated. If it is a guesstimate by the industry to justify the premiums charged without it being able to back it up in any way, it is wrong for us, as parliamentarians, to repeat it. There must be something to underpin it. It must be underpinned by some material figures, as opposed to someone thinking one sixth of every premium is made up of the cost of meeting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The only way to tackle fraud is by enforcement. We cannot tackle fraudulent whiplash claims by reducing payouts because we would affect genuine claimants. We need to prosecute in order that it will be seen as a deterrent to engage in fraud. Many of the measures mentioned by the Minister of State such as medical assessments by the PIAB might offer a way to deal with it, but we also need to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I am not suggesting for one minute that there is no fraudulent activity, as obviously there is, but I have stated previously that this is a sector in which, given the large companies involved, it is almost acceptable to add a little extra on top of a claim. What the Minister of State has said is quite interesting. If we look at the campaign conducted here on the €50 added to every...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Rising Costs of Motor Insurance: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: We will examine the report in detail and deal with the registration legislation at pre-legislative scrutiny stage. It is important that we tackle all of these issues. Some of them may be minor, but they should be tackled because it will help to reduce premiums a little. The increases stem from the investment end of the companies' portfolios - that has been the main driver - and imprudent...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 184. To ask the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will remain on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment or if the person will be referred elsewhere having reached the age of 17 and approaching adulthood; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36634/16]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Fishing Industry (24 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 227. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the impact which a ruling (details supplied) will have on fishing communities which have traditionally benefitted from North-South co-operation in the area of fishing; if legislation will be introduced to reverse the court's decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36724/16]