Results 2,561-2,580 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: Tuath Housing and Dublin City Council need to come back with a response on the issue. At the at the level of principle where amenities or facilities are being provided for development, they must be provided to all. How people came to occupy the property, whether it be Part V or private purchase, should not be the basis of denying anybody access to shared amenities. As the Deputy said,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: We have statutory bodies that this House has empowered through legislation to carry out certain functions, and when it comes to ensuring that we have a competitive marketplace generally and that there are no anti-competitive practices. We have the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. It has examined the retail sector, for example, and it has not stood up some of the charges that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: At the outset I want to say that the report and the findings contained within it are deeply shocking. It is disturbing to think that there are any individual examples of that kind of behaviour and practice happening in Ireland now or in the past. I assure Deputy Bacik, the House and the general public that this will be treated with the utmost seriousness, which it deserves. We welcome...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: The truth is that it will be through a combination of measures. Incomes will rise next year. I believe that in the main incomes will rise ahead of the rate of inflation next year. In real terms, people will make gains relative to the cost of living next year. The last 12 months have been really difficult for many people. Even though there was a whole range of cost-of-living measures,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: First, I want to contest the Deputy’s central thesis that Ireland is some kind of a basket case. That is not the case. He spoke of how we talk about the story of economic success. That is a real story. Some 2.6 million people at work is not a fantasy. They are real people, they include the Deputy’s constituents and they are all over the country. Unemployment is less than...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: Of course, we see challenges every single day in our health system. We have recruited approximately 20,000 more people in health since the beginning of the pandemic. The Deputy spoke about living standards. Living standards in Ireland over the last number of decades have improved, without question. We have seen a reduction in inequality in Ireland over that period of time as well. Our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I did engage with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, in recent weeks on these issues. I know that BPFI met the mortgage group on 29 May and provided me with an update from that meeting. Having met the homeowners yesterday on the specific mortgage issues, I think the asks they have are quite reasonable in the main. They want dedicated contact points in place within the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I understand that there is a further meeting today between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the homeowners' group with the view to getting the scheme up and running. I also understand that BPFI is going to meet the Department as well in order that they fully understand the intricacies and the detail of how the scheme will operate. We also need to ensure that the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: Over the past year, Ireland, along with almost all other advanced economies, has had to grapple with the effect of surging global energy prices triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These price pressures quickly spread to non-energy goods and services, creating broad based inflationary pressure. In practical terms, it has squeezed real incomes of households and has also come at a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I met the banking and insurance defective block redress focus group yesterday to discuss its concerns, which included the issues raised by the Deputy. The focus of the meeting was on mortgages. I understand the very difficult situation faced by homeowners whose houses are affected by defective concrete blocks, and the Government is determined to assist households impacted by this terrible...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy said, the working group reported back in February and reached the conclusion that the existing scheme is outdated. It needs to be replaced with a needs-based, grant-based scheme. Last week in the House, in responding to the report from the Ombudsman, the Taoiseach gave a commitment to convene a meeting of all the relevant Departments to work now on an solution urgently. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: What is needed here is a whole-of-government approach. Dealing with these issues does not sit in any one silo or Department exclusively. I welcome the initiative the Taoiseach is undertaking to pull together the key Departments to devise a coherent and comprehensive response to the working group report and address the issues the Ombudsman has justifiably raised. This has taken too long....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Budget Process (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy for his question. While no decision has yet been formally made by the Government, the normal date for the budget is the second Tuesday in October and I anticipate that will be the date. The decision will be formally made by the Government when I and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, bring a memo to Government to set the date. I expect we will do that very shortly.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Budget Process (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: An enormous amount of work has to go into the development and preparation of a budget on both the expenditure and the taxation sides. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe will have to go through a detailed round of Estimates, discussions and negotiations with all of his colleagues. The preparation of the documentation is quite a process. On my side, the taxation side, this year we have a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fiscal Policy (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputies. They made some very valid points. They highlighted that there are many needs today. There are definite needs in the future. The demographic costs are real with respect to pensions, home care, nursing home care and so on. Those costs are real, we need to provide for them in the future and my colleagues have acknowledged that. We already have a significant national...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fiscal Policy (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy and acknowledge he has been consistently making the case for more investment in road infrastructure, and not just new infrastructure but maintenance of our local and regional road networks. As he knows, there have been underspends in a number of Departments in recent years. We have engaged with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, on the opportunity presented over the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Following the resignation of all previous DDMBA members in November 2021, I had hoped that a new DDMBA would have been established by now and that the appeals process would have recommenced. The Deputy should note that five members are legislatively required for a functional board, however the recruitment of these members has proved to be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: Research has indicated that there is potential for existing mortgage holders to make mortgage savings by switching their mortgage. This is a particularly important consideration at a time of rising interest rates. In this regard, I have met the CEOs of the retail banks and a number of non-bank lenders and emphasised that they should take a consumer focused approach to encourage switching...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: We need to see more switching activity, including from the non-bank sector to the banking sector. I have been very clear with the retail banks that I expect them to be receptive and welcoming of applications from customers who are currently in the non-bank sector. There will be mortgages that it will simply not be possible to switch. We are all aware of the requirement on banks to maintain...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Resolution Processes (22 Jun 2023)

Michael McGrath: I have already publicly said, and I am happy to repeat that statement, that the banks have an important role to play in facilitating and welcoming switchers from all parts of the financial sector, including from the non-bank sector. There are many inherently good mortgages which may technically be deemed to be a non-performing exposure but which can be cured in that technical sense because...