Results 6,981-7,000 of 9,894 for speaker:Thomas Byrne
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: "Isn't that what you tend to do during an election?"
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I have a very good idea in regard to using up time in this Chamber, which would be valuable. Our colleagues in the US Senate last night took an all-nighter to discuss climate change to try to make a difference. They stayed up all night to debate climate change. I am not suggesting that we stay up all night-----
- Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I am sorry; I am being very serious. I am talking about what our colleagues in the US Senate discussed all of last night, which was climate change, in an effort to get people to stop laughing about it, as those on the Government benches have just done, and to take the issue very seriously. We have a day on Thursday with nothing to do, so why not open up on Thursday and emulate our...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Is the practice of oral hearing prescribed by statute or is it that the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman must conduct hearings in a fair manner?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: If the Oireachtas were to stop the Office of the Financial Service Ombudsman holding oral hearings, would that help in its work, or would decisions still be fair? Do oral hearings take up a great deal of time when things could be dealt with more informally?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The Constitution is often cited by officialdom as the reason things cannot be done. It is cited regularly when we table Private Members' business. As Shakespear said, "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose," officialdom in Ireland - I am not including the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman, Mr. Prasifka in "officialdom" - can cite the Constitution for its own purposes. The...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Would it be possible to envisage a system similar to that operated by the actual Ombudsman, in which decisions are not technically legally binding but are in practice. I know the Ombudsman is dealing with the State and that is different from the private sector.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: It is not possible.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I will take that point back. We do not want to go back to those days. Mediation is provided under statute, is that an avenue for the type of informality that applies in the UK?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Even though they were sold six years ago.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The bottom line is that about one in eight complaints to Mr. Prasifka's office are simply out of time because they relate to sales and the sale took place more than six years ago.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: That is the figure Mr. Prasifka gave Deputy Michael McGrath.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We have produced a Bill to deal with that. Mr. Prasifka has expressed some concerns about issues and they will have to be reflected on but I think it is a matter on which the Oireachtas and, perhaps, this committee could make recommendations as there are many people whose complaints are not being upheld.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: The number of complaints about payment protection insurance to the office dropped across the board in the latter half of last year but it is different in the UK, where according to figures published in recent days complaints have dropped apart from a huge upsurge in PPI complaints. Is there a reason we see a drop here while there is an increase there?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: With regard to PPI?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: What is the percentage of upheld complaints with regard to PPI? In the UK it is approximately 56%.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Speaking hypothetically and generally, are complaints upheld from public servants who bought PPI and who have jobs for life, or is each case examined individually?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: Mr. Prasifka very helpfully wrote to my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, on his views on the six year rule and I have a copy of the letter. Deputy McGrath requested this meeting and we are very glad Mr. Prasifka came before the committee. We were both surprised it is the first time he is here. We should have known because we are members of the committee.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: I commend the Chairman. We blame ourselves because we have been members of the committee for more or less the same period. I accept the six year rule is a matter for the Oireachtas and the Government. What are Mr. Prasifka's views on it and how does it impact on the operations of the office?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Bi-annual Review 2013: Financial Services Ombudsman (5 Mar 2014)
Thomas Byrne: We understand this.