Results 4,901-4,920 of 16,492 for speaker:Ciarán Lynch

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: The issue of you going in and taking a very prescriptive and very outlined and detailed engagement with the financial institutions in this country in terms of cooling them down, that never took place formally or informally?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Yes.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Okay, thank you. I now propose that we go for a break and we'll return at 11.30 a.m. if that's agreed? Agreed. In doing so I wish to advise the witness that he ... once he begins giving evidence he should not confer with any person other than his legal team in relation to their evidence on matters that are being discussed before the committee. With that in mind I now suspend the meeting...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: I call the committee back into public session. Is that agreed? And we'll continue our engagement with Mr. Neary this morning and the next questioner is Deputy Kieran O'Donnell. Deputy O'Donnell.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Allow a time to answer-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: -----and then I'll bring you back in.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Thank you now, Deputy, and don't create a value judgment or I'll have to overrule you, please.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: You are indeed and it is indeed. It is indeed, and very appropriate in the week that's in it and all the rest of it but please don't compromise your line of questioning.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Final question, Deputy-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: -----then I'll move on.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: I might add now that the ... that that comment was subsequently withdrawn and added to so ... and it was dealt with an earlier engagement, Deputy - I think actually with yourself - and I think I ... I'm not too sure, whoever it was, but I did get that re-clarified and maybe Mr. Neary is aware of the re-clarification that was put on that as well, I'm not too sure.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: You've no comment to make on it.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Okay.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Thank you very much, Deputy. Could I just ask one question, following Deputy O'Donnell's line of questioning with you, Mr. Neary, and that is, if the banks had lent €440 billion and the Irish economy was worth €160 billion, how do you think the banks had enough capital to withstand the property downturn?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: Mr. Neary, the banks were four times the size of the Irish economy. Did that not send off a flag to you, in your office, and others in the regulation office and in the Central Bank?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: But Mr. Neary, what we know from your testimony this morning is that the measures to introduce higher risk ratings for residential mortgages came very late in 2008 and on commercial property loans into 2007. I mean, we have testimony here that consistently, and I think Mary Burke gave it yesterday afternoon and others did, that by 2006, the game was over. It didn't matter how many staff...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: During that time, Mr. Neary, were you masters of your own fate in making these decisions or were there external agencies saying to you, "The economy is booming, there's a lot of income coming in in these sectors, don't scare the horses or whatever"? Or were these decisions that you ... there were no decisions in regard to the matters I spoke about before 2006 and 2007. Were you in complete...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: From 2001, 2002 onwards we saw this massive growth in lending-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: -----resulting in four times the size of the Irish economy. There were interventions made in 2006 in the property sector and the commercial sector in 2007. So in the preceding years before that, action or inaction is a decision. So was it a decision not to actually engage during the pre-2006 period?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (28 May 2015)

Ciarán Lynch: So that's an action?