Results 36,101-36,120 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Question 2: To ask the Minister for Finance his views of the level of asset impairment of the institutions covered by the credit institutions financial support scheme; the progress of the review by PriceWaterhouseCoopers; his views of expected write-downs or required capital replacement of those institutions; the estimated exposure or contingent liability of the taxpayer for the guarantee;...
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: First, that answer is inadequate given the difficulties faced by the Irish banking sector and because, at present, banks in effect are cutting off the pipelines of credit to many small, medium and large businesses, as well as to many individual borrowers, including those who seek to purchase homes. This is about Main Street and not our equivalent of Wall Street. The Minister only appears...
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I stated his answer was less than adequate. Allow me to rephrase what I stated. The Minister stated the regulator knows the Irish banks in the scheme are not necessarily exposed to sub-prime mortgages. Everyone knows that already because the sub-prime business was only beginning to get off the ground in Ireland. The Minister also stated we are not exposed to, for example, fall-out from...
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: The Minister ought to.
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I have two supplementary questions. The Minister finally has confirmed there is no cross-indemnity and, therefore, at a minimum, the Minister and the Taoiseach misled the House.
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I ask the Minister to answer my question again. The Financial Regulator and PriceWaterhouseCoopers for several weeks have been engaged in this review to drill deep into the balance sheets.
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Can the Minister indicate what such drilling has revealed thus far in respect of risky construction and land speculation loans? That is where the risks are, particularly in respect of two of the institutions concerned. Is the Minister more concerned to save the developers than to save the capacity of ordinary businesses to borrow for legitimate business requirements?
- Banking Sector Regulation. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: They are not getting it.
- Government Borrowing. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Wait and see.
- Departmental Expenditure. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I sympathise with Deputy Stanton because it is very difficult to make head or tail of the Minister's reply. Concerning the revised programme in July, the Minister said that although the HSE had expected to spend â¬50 million it had been slow in spending and had cut that figure back to â¬30 million. He said that he had put in a saving of â¬17 million into his July savings Estimate in...
- Departmental Expenditure. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: If that is the case why does the Minister not answer the question?
- Departmental Expenditure. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: We cannot get answers concerning the HSE. They go to Professor Drumm who does not answer them.
- Financial Institutions Support Scheme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I understand the current level of total deposits in credit unions is between â¬13 billion and â¬15 billion. While the Minister may have a more accurate figure, the sum of money involved is certainly substantial. Given that most of this money is lent out conservatively because credit unions, unlike banks, have limited powers to lend and must operate differently from the banks, is it...
- Financial Institutions Support Scheme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: What is the Minister's estimate of the amount held in credit unions?
- Pension Provisions. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Does the practice described not sound a little like Enron accounting? One takes in the assets on one's vehicle, namely, the national accounts, while the liabilities are left hanging out in a little note. Enron used to do this and it was one of the factors that brought down the company. Funny accounting, like funny financial products, has had its day. The Minister and his colleague, the...
- Financial Institutions Support Scheme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Did the Minister have an opportunity to read an article in yesterday's Financial Times, which said that Ireland needs high coupon rates to attract investors? It said Ireland "had to offer 25 basis points, or one-quarter of 1 per cent, over average European government bond yields, which was at the high end of expectations". Does the Minister agree Irish bonds are now priced in the same way...
- Financial Institutions Support Scheme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Does the Minister agree that the â¬4 billion bond issue he referred to is equivalent to 10% of the national debt, borrowed just last week at much higher costs because of the banks scheme? He borrowed, in effect, one third of the Government's borrowing requirement for that scheme. He is basically giving the banks a free lunch because he is not charging them a price that reflects the extra...
- Financial Institutions Support Scheme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: That is absolute rubbish.
- Decentralisation Programme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: I would like to challenge the Minister on the figure of 6,000. The bulk of those were people who were already outside of Dublin who wanted to relocate from one place outside of Dublin to another, for example, someone in Sligo hoping to go to Carrick-on-Shannon to be closer to home. Will the Minister agree that is where the majority of the decentralisation moves occurred? Has the Minister a...
- Decentralisation Programme. (6 Nov 2008)
Joan Burton: Where were they from? They were not from Dublin.