Results 4,261-4,280 of 7,082 for speaker:John Paul Phelan

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Much of your statement referred to the Stability and Growth Pact. In 2003 France and Germany were the first two countries to break the 3% deficit limit that was part of the pact. As you said, Ireland never breached that 3% limit, at least during the Celtic Tiger years. Is it fair to say, as some commentators have, that the terms of the pact were not fit for purpose - or, to rephrase that,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Just briefly, I have a series of questions, and I will cut it down to one.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I was just saying that, Chairman. The question is about auditors, and I have asked it of many of the witnesses. The European Commission proposed far-reaching reforms to the audit sector before the banking crisis, and these reforms were subsequently changed. Do you believe it should be mandatory for bank auditors to rotate and, if yes, why? Do you believe the mandatory rotation of...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I thank Dr. Donovan. I have a couple of questions about the executive board that he referenced in a number of his answers and on page 1 of his statement. Dr. Donovan states that each country is represented. How is each country represented on the board?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Following on from that, how did it come to pass? I am looking at the list, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Granada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It seems like a very strange constituency for Ireland and Canada to find themselves in, concerning the executive board of the IMF.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I want to ask about the overall tenor of Dr. Donovan's statement today on how the IMF's analysis failed Ireland. It has also been quoted by other members. Dr. Donovan went on to refer in detail to absences from the analysis, particularly with regard to commercial property and what he referred to as CAB, the cyclically adjusted balance, which has a different connotation from what we would...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: In Dr. Donovan's experience, has that ever happened in a developed country?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: My last question relates to the cyclically adjusted balance, to which I referred. Dr. Donovan referred to Professor Honohan's report. Some 30% of the total tax take was from cyclical taxes, primarily related to property. How is it that the IMF failed to notice that? Can Dr. Donovan elaborate and say whether that has been corrected sufficiently?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Has it been corrected?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Does Dr. Donovan feel that if an analysis were to be carried out on country X now, alarm bells would ring?

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Like previous speakers, I commend Deputy Ellis and other members of his party who have brought forward this legislation for discussion. Many Members have had the opportunity over the past few days to meet members of the late Jake Brennan's family, his neighbours and friends. Being from Kilkenny, I can attest to the fact that many people are involved in the Jake's Legacy campaign. In the...

Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: He asked for the complete abolition of the system. I do not have the record. He said it needed to be abolished and used the word "abolish" three or four times. I know he was referring to commercial rates.

Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I urge him to look at the record himself.

Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: He asked several times for the abolition of commercial rates and said they should be based on a fairer system. Perhaps he is correct, but he did ask for their abolition none the less. He stressed the fact that too much emphasis was being put on IDA-related employment by the Government and bemoaned the fact that it cost €13,000 to create an IDA-supported job. A job is a job, and...

Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I hope I have more than the one minute and 34 seconds displayed on the monitor although I do not have a major contribution to make. However, I feel I should respond to a few points that have been made by some of the previous Opposition speakers. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and most of its provisions. The previous speaker, Deputy Troy, prefaced his comments by saying...

Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: For a Fianna Fáil representative to call for the abolition of rates harks back to perhaps the worst excesses-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: I welcome Professor FitzGerald. I want to start by referring to a couple of previous answers he has given. He spoke earlier about how he noticed a cultural change in the Department of Finance in the last decade of his time in the ESRI, and that some of its observations had become more political. I am interested to know whether, after the economic collapse, he noticed a change in that...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Can I ask - the professor referenced this himself as did a few of the previous witnesses, particularly the authors of the reports - if you were surprised that so few qualified economists were working within the Department of Finance at the time of the collapse, and did that have any effects on judgments that were made, in his opinion?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: We have all said things on the Vincent Browne programme.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Feb 2015)

John Paul Phelan: Was that a conscious decision within management in the Department of Finance, in your view, or was it something that just evolved over time?