Results 32,201-32,220 of 32,983 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: He is not going. He is staying with us.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 2: In page 10, before section 4, but in Part 2, to insert the following: 4.—The Governor of the Central Bank and the Head of Financial Regulation shall present to the Houses of the Oireachtas an appraisal of the Recommendations of the Statutory Commission of Investigation on the Banking system within 3 months of such Commission completing its work.". We had much...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 4: In page 12, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following: "(9) Within one year of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Agency shall publish an assessment of the performance of the Commission in protecting consumer interests through its regulations, orders, codes of practice and other activities.". I thank the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, for...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 7: In page 18, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "(6) Regulations under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and shall come into force after 21 sitting days, during which time a motion may be tabled in either House to amend or annul the regulations.". The amendment addresses a difficulty regarding organisations such as this. It...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: Why does the Minister believe it is necessary to specify in subsection (4) the offices held by persons covered by the pre-approved control provisions included in the legislation? If one specifies the offices that will be subject to the terms of legislation, there is a temptation - as happened in the past - for the organisation one is regulating to create another job that does not carry of...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure it is covered. The section is clear. Subsection (4)(a) reads"... any of the following positions or offices ...". It also reads: "(i) the office of director; (ii) the office of chief executive; (iii) the office of secretary; (iv) subject to ... [ an earlier] subsection ..., an office or position ...". By being so specific about such offices, does this not create an...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 50 reads: "The Bank may issue a code setting out standards of fitness and probity for the purposes of this Part." My point stands. In other legislation regulating an organisation the Minister or the regulator has the ability to define any other post he or she deems fit as falling within the scope of the legislation. For example, if this provision were to cover a person involved in...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 9: In page 38, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: "(2) The code shall not come into force until it has been submitted to the Minister for Finance who shall submit it for consideration and approval by the Houses of the Oireachtas or a Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas designated to deal with such matters.". Given the discussion we had on the importance...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not think the code is quite narrow. It allows very generous latitude to the banks to set out the standards in question. None the less, I understand the importance of the independence of the Central Bank and ensuring it is free from unnecessary political interference as opposed to direction.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 13: In page 53, column 3, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: "(n) credit union affairs.". We have had a lot of discussion on this in the House and many Members have raised concerns about the need to strike a balance between the needs of the credit union movement and the broader regulatory duties that the organisation will have. We understand the role the...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 15: In page 53, column 3, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following: "(4) No person shall be appointed for more than two terms.". It is important in an organisation such as this, when the financial world is so fast moving and the organisation which it seeks to regulate is so sophisticated, that there should be some mandatory turnover of people who are at the head...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 17: In page 56, column 3, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(2) In publishing its proposed levies, it shall publish an impact assessment of the proposed levies including relevant comparisons of cost effectiveness of its operations with comparator countries.". This amendment seeks to ensure that the new Central Bank, in the reports it will produce, makes...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 18: In page 60, column 3, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: "(c) the benchmarks or domestic and/or international comparison against which its regulatory performance should be viewed,". There have been occasions in which the advice Ministers received was so overwhelming that they had no choice but to follow it. The amendments provide that any advice...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I concur with Senator Ross on this point and made a similar point on Second Stage. I propose to respond to the Minister's argument that we are damaging the reputation of politics and proposing to undermine the independence of the Central Bank. I disagree completely because I do not for one moment suggest that politics is bad. I am proud and pleased to be a politician and any inference to...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: This is not a matter of people failing to show respect to the institutions of the State. That does not drive the points Senator Ross and I have made. The Fianna Fáil Party has made appointments in a manner that does not show respect for State institutions.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a fact, rather than an opinion, that appointments were made by the Fianna Fáil Party in the past ten years that did not show respect for State institutions.

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss this important Bill. The Minister enjoys reading and also, when possible, putting forward a very strong defence of his Government. Given those two factors, I recommend a recently published book to him that covers both those levels, What Did We Do Right? by Michael O'Sullivan and Rory Miller. It makes for very good reading in the present...

Seanad: Central Bank Reform Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister for that information. The point I mentioned was made in that report, which I had the opportunity to see. Does this Bill not represent an opportunity to examine mechanisms that could be introduced to create living wills for banks, to provide that if they do not deliver and if there is a risk of them becoming insolvent, an organisation such as this would have the power to...

Seanad: Respite Care Services (29 Jun 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chathaoirleach for selecting this matter and Senator Keaveney for allowing me to take her place. I refer to the reduction in funding made available to organisations providing respite care, particularly for children with intellectual disabilities. I became involved in this issue last Thursday in my constituency in which the Sisters of Charity which is based on the Navan Road and...

Seanad: Respite Care Services (29 Jun 2010)

Paschal Donohoe: I ask the Minister to pass on my desperate request to the HSE that it meet the Daughters of Charity on the Navan Road and do all it can to ensure that services are not withdrawn in a week and a half. The Minister said the Government is doing all that is possible to maintain front-line services. These services will go and, to the best of my knowledge, the HSE and the Daughters of Charity...