Results 2,381-2,400 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Just a "Yes" or "No". It is a very simple question.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: "Yes" or "No".

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: My personal view would be that if someone is going through the treatment and has led a life without any litigation, that the easiest thing to do would be to fill in a form. To me, it would be €25,000 for peace of mind, not to drag people through the indignity of this. However, I am not in their position and neither is Mr. Breen. It seems obvious that might be easier for them. It...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Does Mr. Kelly agree with that or is he not allowed make a call on policy?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: It is €500 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: It is €1.5 billion, but in the scale of what the NTMA spends it is not exactly a good insurance policy.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Therefore it is one third. As someone who is not an expert, it seems obvious to me that we might be exposing the Irish people yet again if something goes wrong. On investment in private companies for the delivery of housing, whether social or private, it is clear to a non-expert that there are strong yields in the rental market. Does the NTMA's remit have any element of social...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: That is where I was going. Mr. O'Kelly mentioned that earlier and expressed his hope that adding supply will deal with demand. It is not definite.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: We know all that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I get all that but the fund is investing money in companies whose profits will rise based on rents accelerating. Then it goes back into the kitty.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I understand that it would be preferable if, when investing money, the rents were to rise.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Could I have a "Yes" or "No" answer to the question of whether it would be preferable when making the investment if rents accelerated from a return point of view?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: So the agency does not like making money.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: So is that the social conscience element?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Who makes that decision?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: It is just simple stuff. The crux of it is that the agency is investing Irish taxpayers' money in private or social housing and is supposed to be managing assets and, therefore, getting a better return for the taxpayer. It is crucial to the agency's model that rents rise, therefore.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Surely if 30,000 were got back, there would be a better balance sheet at the end of the year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: In the case of the companies picked to do the housing, I am assuming that we will not be back here in five years - if the people re-elect us - discovering all sorts of shenanigans going on regarding due diligence, conflicts of interest and all the decisions. Can Mr. O'Kelly assure us due diligence is done on these companies?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Well, whatever. Is there potential that we could be back here in five years? Is the due diligence being done correctly on these private companies that are being used companies? Bancroft was mentioned. Can Mr. O'Kelly assure us we will not be here in five years' time looking into the "carry-on" - I cannot think of another word - of these companies? Does Mr. O'Kelly take umbrage with that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 23: Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
National Treasury Management Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (12 Jul 2018)

Kate O'Connell: So Mr. O'Kelly is happy that due diligence is correct.