Results 281-300 of 36,631 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: If you are scammed for €1,000, the scammers know what they are doing and they move the money very quickly. Some of this money has been recovered. They stole €5 million of taxpayers' money that was under the NTMA's control. At what level of authority in the NTMA is somebody able to release a capital call of that nature?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: My question concerns the €5 million payment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: What level of authority does it involve?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: What is the senior level?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: I do not want Mr. Black to identify individuals, assign any blame or cast aspersions but I think it is a fair question. We are talking about taxpayers' money and we want to make sure it does not happen again. At what level can €5 million be authorised as a capital call? Is is at CEO level or assistant level? Is that one of the concerns - that there should be more checks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: I do not want to identify anybody. That is a fair point. When a capital call comes in regarding a drawdown, which may not be in keeping with the previous one and may or may not have raised a red flag, I presume that individual does not have the authority to make the capital call. There is somebody else. Is there another rung after that? I want to know whether it is one more step, two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: The process can be dealt with by one individual. I want to know how many steps are involved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Would it involve three or four signatures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: That is fair enough. Will the Comptroller and Auditor General be asked to look at this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Excellent. On what date did the NTMA notice the €5 million was stolen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Fair play to the staff who identified that and the recovery efforts so far. Did the NTMA contact An Garda Síochána on 8 July?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Did it contact the Department of Finance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: It was reported on 12 July that the Department of Finance did not know anything until-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: All the steps have been fulfilled. How do we know it will not happen today? We are two weeks on and the NTMA has not been able to confirm whether or not there should have been a red flag. These are international criminals. In some cases, they are syndicates. How do we know that the procedures are robust enough now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Has the NTMA put steps in place? I know all of that and I appreciate it but has the NTMA done something since then? Are there now two more layers? If a call comes through that is not similar to the first call, is it a case of "red flags please all around and let's escalate this"? Has the NTMA done anything in the past two weeks as the investigation is ongoing to ensure we are not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: Does the NTMA have an interim report?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: I have raised the issue of Israeli war bonds with the NTMA for a number of years. I know it invested in an index fund. Last year, it held nine Israeli war bonds. It has increased that investment. How many did it hold at the highest point last year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that but the NTMA still has to buy the bond. At the end of 2023, the NTMA held nine Israeli war bonds.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: So the NTMA bought two more.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation (22 Jul 2025)

Pearse Doherty: A decision was taken on 10 July to divest, just as the NTMA was going to release its annual report - to save face. That is the reality. Mr. O'Connor will get a chance to rebut that but that is exactly what the NTMA did - to save face - because the Irish public is disgusted that the NTMA is investing its money into buying war bonds. Kids are being ripped apart by these bullets and bombs and...