Results 6,341-6,360 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not comment on the detail of it. It is fair that I check it first before I revert to the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The action we have indicated we will take is the legislation we will be bringing forward in respect of a higher level of transparency on this issue. I was involved in that as senior Minister in the Department and I will be involved in further action but, before I give an indication as to whether further action will happen, it is appropriate, as senior Minister, that I wait to see what will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is because these are the same insurance companies that we want to be providing insurance cover at reasonable prices to businesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Let me go on to answer that question. Earlier, the Deputy asked me what action I took. When I tell him what the action was, he dismisses it as a joke. He had already decided to dismiss it as a joke before I gave him my answer. In regard to what more I am going to do, the Deputy is interested in a headline. If I make a commitment in regard to action, it is action that I have to take. As...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am glad the Deputy has recognised the risk.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I will answer that question. Of course, I want to be in a position so that, if taxpayers’ money has been used in a way to underpin a payment that has been made, that money is returned to the State. As I said, however, in my view, that can only be done legally in a prospective manner. What I find extraordinary about the outburst from Deputy Doherty is that he referred to my...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The risks are there, no matter what the Deputy is suggesting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Let me conclude. This has to go both ways. In the exchange I had earlier, I made the point to the Deputy that a Government deciding that our answer to an issue we are facing is that we are going to tax the employer more brings risks to it. The Deputy acknowledged that to me a moment ago when he said it does. He acknowledged there are risks. If we have large global insurers that we want...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is what the Deputy is arguing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is consistent. Deputy Doherty is against the data centres and does not seem to acknowledge the point that data centres play a role in employment in our country. He does not have a good word to say about any bank but when two banks leave Ireland, he is the first to criticise that. Then, when we are here on the insurance companies, he wants more insurance at better prices with more...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Doherty made reference to my record earlier and said I have no record to stand over. The record I have to stand over is being Minister for Finance at the moment the pandemic hit and at the moment at which our country was dealing with Brexit. Across that period, we have grown and maintained jobs in our country and we have protected the taxpayer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is quite happy to make a general comment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The record will show what the Deputy did or did not say.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course, in my answers to the Deputy, I pointed to the legislation we were going to bring forward and I also pointed to the legal advice I have received that does, to a degree, constrain me. I could go on to all of the other legislation that the Government has brought forward, for example, the guidelines with regard to personal injuries, and the other things the Government is also doing to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I have ongoing discussions with my officials in regard to all matters with regard to banks. That particular matter has received their attention over the last number of years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I think it has been, maybe, referenced on an occasional paper that I have received but it is not something that I have considered or am minded to do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a decision that is made budget to budget but I have no plans to bring it forward. No plans.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a matter that will be dealt with in the context of the review of the retail banking sector that is now under way. I am very much aware that there are concerns regarding customer access and ability to access the kind of local decision-makers. This is something that we are considering in the context of the banking review. In terms of the engagement that I have had with banks...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Covid-19 Payments and the Sale of AIB shares: Minister for Finance (19 Jan 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am a little but I did accept the invitation to come in and I will answer all of the questions that are put to me. I hope that I do not live to regret that.