Results 6,641-6,660 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I will comment responsibly in reply to some of what the Deputy has had to say. I make it clear to him, as we have always done, that it is the public interest and no other factor which motivates the Government in this matter. Any suggestion to the contrary is just fanciful on the Deputy's part. The Opposition contends continually during the course of the election campaign that this is about...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: As I have said to Deputy Kenny already, the purpose of transferring the banks' impaired assets to NAMA is to allow the banks to strengthen their balance sheets and reduce the uncertainty regarding the level of bad debt held by them. This should in due course allow banks to provide credit to the economy on a commercial basis, which is necessary as there is currently no functioning market for...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is important that we ensure we put in place the correct methodology for valuing the assets to be transferred. It is a key priority for Government to ensure we have a robust and consistent approach to valuation. The European Commission has provided guidance to member states on the treatment of impaired assets, including a detailed set of requirements for the valuation of such assets and,...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I am simply explaining that the model being used by the Government is in line with guidelines that have been outlined - the toolkit, as it was described by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel - in respect of the initiatives Governments need to take to ensure a greater degree of market certainty, to identify the level of impaired assets and to park those assets so the banks can have access to...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The motion put forward by the Labour Party offers no solution to the banks' bad debt problem. It focuses entirely on the ownership and governance of banks; there is no proposal on how to clean up banks' balance sheets. Banks with damaged balance sheets, whether they are private, partly State-owned or fully nationalised, will not lend to the real economy. Moreover, bank nationalisation does...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I have been seeking not to assume any more risk than the State must assume at any given time. The Deputy's proposal does not deal with the funding or bad debts issues. It deals with ownership. The question is what is best to do in this situation. There is a continual effort to portray Government investment as bail outs for the banks. We are in the business of trying to help those who...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I listened in silence to the Deputy. Independent board members were appointed that will oversee the transition from the structures of the past to a new approach. The recapitalisation is occurring in a way similar to the approach in most countries. Money is being invested in bank recapitalisation and I remind Deputy Gilmore there will be an 8% return on that investment.

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The suggestion that we are handing over money without seeking a return on that investment is not correct but is something the Labour Party continues to portray day in and day out because it thinks it gains votes, even if it is misinformed. It is all about the Labour Party trying to get votes.

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: That is exactly what it is about, let us not cod one another. We know what is going on. On the question of money being invested in bank recapitalisation, that is the purpose of the recapitalisation proposal. The national asset management agency was established to remove uncertainty from the system-----

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: -----through a new approach to dealing with bad or non-performing loans for development land and investment property. The Labour Party proposal does not address that issue and does not wish to address it because it does not suit it ideologically in the context of the coming weeks. The Deputy is suggesting to this House that the nationalisation of the banks will solve the problem. That is...

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: -----so that people can see that we can get access to funding in international markets. That is the position. Everyone who is informed in this area knows that is the situation-----

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: -----but the Deputy's party continues to peddle the notion of a board bail-out in the public domain in some attempt to suggest that the Labour Party is on its own in terms of protecting the public interest.

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: We are seeking to protect the public interest, to do so in a responsible way not in a way that suggests-----

Leaders' Questions (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy's party has been suggesting that it has the solution to the problem on the basis of a motion that does not address the funding issue or the bad debt problem.

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is proposed to take No. 2, Finance Bill 2009 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. Private Members' Business shall be No. 70, motion re banking system.

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The only point I would make is that the Tánaiste has been to the United States in the past two weeks. The Minister for Foreign Affairs was there last week. The Tánaiste is co-ordinating a response in terms of how this issue will evolve on Capitol Hill over the coming months and possibly years. Adequate resources are being provided for that in personnel terms.

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: That was another good sound bite. On the issue concerning cross-directorships-----

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: There is not much point in doing so.

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: In regard to the first item of legislation concerning the question of a referendum, that is something we would like to see introduced before the forthcoming referendum is held. Work will continue on that.

Order of Business (12 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: Sorry, I will start again.