Results 22,201-22,220 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Protection Policies (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 209. To ask the Minister for Finance if there is any legal requirement for lenders who are regulated entities to ensure that at the point a residential mortgage is drawn down and also during the life of the mortgage, the borrower must have either a life assurance policy or a mortgage protection policy in place to cover the balance of the mortgage at a minimum; and if he will make a statement...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Ombudsman Issues (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 216. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 235 of 18 February 2014, if a mortgage holder has the right to complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman in cases where their loan has been sold to an unregulated entity that states it is voluntarily complying with the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and the consumer feels that the entity is not actually abiding...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 220. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason persons (details supplied) in County Cork are paying a higher amount of income tax in 2014; if there has been a change in tax credits for the couple in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9636/14]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of Public Works Projects (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 333. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the various projects in which the Office of Public Works is involved that require geological expertise, including geological assessment and slope stability risk assessment; if the work would be typically carried out by employees of the OPW or by external consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8980/14]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 352. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the State currently claims ownership of Cobh Titanic or has at any stage in the past owned same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9382/14]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (25 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 468. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to address the trap that many persons in shared ownership arrangements with local authorities find themselves in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9255/14]

Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: You are selling them down the Swanee.

Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: It is unenforceable. That is the point.

Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: I do not regard voluntary compliance with the code as a solution because it is simply unenforceable, which is the fundamental weakness. Who will police voluntary compliance if an issue arises? The answer is that nobody will. We will have two standards of a code, one that is statute-based, enforced and policed by the Central Bank and another that is entirely voluntary. That is not a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: What I am seeking to do is highlight the lack of consistency among the banks. I welcome the new split mortgage model AIB is rolling out, whereby if, over time, a borrower meets his or her obligations under the particular arrangement reached, more and more of the loan essentially can be written off. This is a progressive and innovative initiative and I congratulate AIB and the Irish Mortgage...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Minister. I have written to the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan, to outline to him my views on these issues. The reality is that how one is treated depends on the bank with which one has one's mortgage. There are significant differences in approach among the banks. That is the reality people are facing. The banks are operating within a framework...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 4. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether financial institutions are showing sufficient innovation in the nature of the solutions they are putting in place for distressed borrowers to ensure that arrangements are genuinely sustainable; his views on whether there is a lack of consistency in approach across different lenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8565/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: The purpose of this question is to ask if the Minister is satisfied with the approach taken by financial institutions to deal with indebtedness, in particular mortgages. It is not explicitly mentioned in the question but it does relate to mortgages. My overall point is that I am not looking for absolute uniformity in terms of the approach taken by the banks to deal with people's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: I am not frightening anyone.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: The reality is that if the worst comes to the worst and a person's mortgage is in difficulty and then sold to an unregulated entity - a third party - that entity can move against the mortgage holder virtually immediately. If we look at the standard contractual terms of any mortgage agreement, they are stacked heavily in favour of the lender - the Minister knows this as well as I do. It is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: That is the bottom line. The Minister has acknowledged there is a problem which can be solved by legislation or a simple direction order from the Minister to the special liquidator. This is a genuine issue. People are afraid of being exposed, vulnerable and isolated in the face of an unsympathetic fund that is out to make a quick buck. That is a genuine fear. Perhaps some people have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: 1. To ask the Minister for Finance the action he will take to safeguard the interests of residential mortgage holders whose loans are sold to unregulated third parties, including the customers of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation in special liquidation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8564/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: The Minister is well aware of this question by now. It relates to the sale of mortgages to entities not regulated by the Irish Central Bank. The issue has come into sharp focus because of the imminent sale by the special liquidator of IBRC mortgages, but it could also apply to mortgage holders of any other bank. What would the Minister do if AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB or Ulster...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: The Minister makes the point that the unregulated entities that have bought mortgage books thus far have complied with the code voluntarily. What if one of those mortgage holders disputes that? What if they believe that those companies, vulture funds, or whatever the Minister wants to call them, are not complying with the code? Who adjudicates on that? Do they go to Dame Street and knock...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Debt (20 Feb 2014)

Michael McGrath: No.