Results 4,861-4,880 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It must be done in a transparent and up-front way. The different public authorities must pay a reasonable price for whatever is being required in order that the NAMA operation proceeds with its correct commercial purposes. There is ample power under the Bill to deal with the specific issue raised by Senator Mullen, that of emergency housing, transitional housing and the acquisition of...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: One does not know what collateral could be out there.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We have covered most of the points. I would say to Senator Mullen that I propose to exercise my powers and I am satisfied that the powers are available already. The introduction of this additional material will confuse the issues in regard to putting an obligation on the agency to always offer land, irrespective of the circumstances.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There has been a long series of interventions. Senator Twomey, who moved the amendment, inquired into the nature of the business plan. The interim business plan that was discussed is simply an interim draft plan. The final plan, which will be a ten-year plan, will have to be approved by the board of the agency when it is appointed. The interim business plan is a draft and an indication of...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Callely raised a number of specific questions which are important. Like Senator Burke, he is also reflecting, not so much on what builders and developers are saying as builders and developers but on what they are saying as customers of financial institutions. As Senator Butler correctly stated, NAMA does not yet exist. It has assumed an existence in the public mind which it does...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----amount to something and not amount to something with great ease. I have always followed the maxim in regard to banks that cash is king. If one can find out where the cash is, one will generally find the answers. Senator Butler made a point on the entity. It is the case that NAMA has a commercial mandate. That must be the case, as that is how we protect the taxpayer. Senator...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----in that sort of soft Connacht voice of his. "Would you not be sorry for the poor man who is outside the gate this evening?" He is a master at that. I have seen him at it all his life, so it is not a new-trick pony to me.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I see. There you are. Obviously there are things he taught Senator Leyden that he did not teach me. It has been a very good debate-----

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes. We have receipts on foot of the guarantee scheme. The Senator also inquired about possible assistance from the Office of Public Works. We are open to that. That office has some specialities that could be of considerable assistance.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: May I make a point of order?

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I think amendment No. 7 is grouped with another amendment.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I agreed in the Lower House to advertise for the board of NAMA and I have received 500 applications to date. I will examine Senator MacSharry's suggestion, which might be appropriate in this context. On the merits of this amendment, a great deal has been inserted into the legislation to ensure that this body is far more transparent and accountable than any other body we have established....

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am encouraged by that because it represents a change in the attitude of both Houses towards corporate governance. In the past decade the attitude has been that one can set up an agency, divorce it from the Government, prescribe a corporate governance standard for it and leave it entirely apart from the political system, because the political system is presumptively wicked in its intentions...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----to note that it appears to be an all-party drift away from it. I was struck when the Bill was introduced by the amount of criticism to the effect that the Minister has too much power and how that vanished during the debates. There is a high degree of transparency in the legislation. The National Treasury Management Agency is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Senator Alex...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If the bulk of the information is commercially sensitive, being obliged to prove that in individual cases will, of course, constitute an administrative burden. Virtually all of the information at the disposal of the agency will, in any event, be exempt.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is a matter of judgment. The review by the Comptroller and Auditor General will be carried out every three years. The ministerial review relates to the broader policy aspects of the legislation, the state of the property market and the evolution of the banking sector. These are wider matters and a longer period will be required for their consideration. That is why it was decided that...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Is iontach an rud é, ach tá mé chun an leasú seo a ghlacadh. Chomh maith le Gaeilge an-mhaith, tá eolas an dlí go han-mhaith ag an Seanadóir, mar níl aon fhadhb ag an Ard-Aighne leis an fhoclaíocht sa leasú seo. Mar sin, glacaim leis an leasú. An deacracht atá ann ná caithfidh go mbeidh leagan oifigiúil amháin sa Teanga don Bhille ar fáil nuair a síneoidh an tUachtarán an...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Rud eile, tá an raic seo an-chasta ar fad, mar is eól díobh go léir. Sin an fáth nach bhfuil an leagan Gaeilge le fáil anois. De ghnáth bíonn Rannóg an Aistriúchán ag obair ar an mBille roimh an tosnú agus bíonn an dá leagan réidh. Sa chás seo ní raibh fhéidir é sin a dhéanamh agus sin an fhadhb a bhí againn.

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I shall certainly draw Senator Twomey's observations to the attention of the incoming board. In fact, there is an amendment tabled to the Schedule, which will be addressed, I take it, when we discuss the Schedule, to ensure the capacity NAMA has to apply for or extend a planning permission will be harmonised with the proposal contained in legislation in connection with planning and...

Seanad: National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: No, because generally such applications are not dealt with by way of rezoning.