Results 3,321-3,340 of 4,928 for speaker:Peter Mathews
- Business of Dáil: Motion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle.
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: Does anybody recall the photograph in the Irish Independent on 10 October 2009? It was a picture of Professor Patrick Honohan, President Barroso and Joaquin Almunia, the wise men who said that the Irish people needed to make up their minds quickly and called on the Irish Government to move fast to have the NAMA legislation enacted. That was done around 7 November. The next landmark day...
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: Guarantees require uberrima fides, which is a policy of insurance and indemnity. There was no uberrima fides at the time because the assets of the then Anglo Irish Bank and the other banks were grossly overstated. I note KPMG is advising on this particular move. KPMG was the auditor of Irish Nationwide Building Society, which had losses of €6 billion on a balance sheet of only...
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: Defer, not default.
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: How many minutes is that?
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: A softly boiled egg.
- Promissory Notes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: It is absurd. I have spent four years on this subject.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: I referred earlier to that last point. If we know the facts and the low, medium and highest estimates, we have a sensitivity analysis of the exposure. There is an irony with regard to this issue. The mobility allowance was introduced in 1979, when in public thinking and society in general we were becoming more conscious about giving people with disability the chance to go to work and to...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: The question is could the Department bring these considerations back to Government and officials in the Department so as to reflect a fairer society?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: There will be the opportunity to move forward once we know the full range of facts, possibilities and limitations. As the Minister echoed again, we must bear in mind compassion and fairness for people who, by definition, are disadvantaged through disability and means.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for appearing before the committee. It is taken as correct that in order to be fair to people, irrespective of age, we should look at the scheme with new eyes. Fairness and compassion are the two words that still obtain. The starting point is that people with disability and who have been means-tested are the potential applicants for the...
- Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: The Dublin colours.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: If refugees come here and are living in direct provision centres, and they apply for residency, usually the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Department of Justice and Equality will ask questions in the country of origin to know if there are any criminal or other records. There is always a danger in such documentation from the country of origin that people in that country resent the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the submission and their explanations of it. I think Deputy McDonald has highlighted the need for transparency, completeness and accuracy of information on the bureaucracy side in regard to the files, the information and the statistics. However, there is also the visibility of the human picture side, which actually affects the lives of the people...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: It is about expertise.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: I remember on 10 October 2009, following the 16 September 2009 presentation of the NAMA project with the figures, the combination of Ollie Rehn, President Barroso, Joaquín Almunia and Professor Patrick Honohan said it was their pressing wish that the Irish Government would see the imperative to get the NAMA legislation in place as fast as possible. If that is not a strong army I do not...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: It still remains the unknown unknown and that is all wrong because we cannot take control of our situation unless we know what has happened and how we got there. On the question of commercial sensitivity, in the area of the health and safety for the population there are no holds barred. The freedom of information process can dig as deep and go wherever it wishes, as can the inquiries, but...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion (6 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: I thank our guests for coming before us. Many of the questions which come to mind have already been asked. Commercial sensitivity is used as a shield in respect of information which is relevant and which should be explored. For example, the banking inquiries that have taken place to date were backstopped at the date of the announcement of the guarantee at the end of September 2008. The...
- Promissory Notes: Motion [Private Members] (5 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: True.
- Promissory Notes: Motion [Private Members] (5 Feb 2013)
Peter Mathews: It is true.