Results 9,321-9,340 of 35,567 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Licences (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 76. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a driver licence can be extended for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32321/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 140. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a post-primary school transport route (details supplied) will be extended with the capacity increased to meet demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32322/21]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 185. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a review can be accepted in exceptional circumstances for a person (details supplied) to resolve a national childcare scheme issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32323/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciated the witnesses coming before the committee and telling their stories. Some are before the committee for a second time. I will begin with Mr. Butler. I thank him for his opening statement. In it, he said some banks will only advance Covid-19 loans to customers reclassifying themselves as non-consumers, thus enabling banks to use unfair terms and avoid tracker examination by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Has the bank in question provided any rationale for the designation of the individual as a non-consumer rather than a consumer? Would Mr. Butler's client be happy to share both pieces of documentation with the committee, in whatever redacted format is deemed suitable, so we could follow this up with the financial institution in question?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: That is something the committee could possibly take up with both the institution at the heart of this but also with the Central Bank on the broader issue in terms of how banks are able to define a customer as a consumer or a non-consumer and the rationale of the criteria set out for that. I would be happy to follow up on that, as I am sure would the committee. I thank Mr. Kavanagh for his...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: What is the core argument of the 23 agents? Is it that they were let go or encouraged to mis-sell? In Mr. Kavanagh's words, what is the core argument they have with the EBS?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that. It would be impossible for them to show that it was a mis-sold product. Could Mr. Kavanagh give an example of the type of products that he was being asked to push on his customers? I think of laypeople who may not be involved in the purchase of these type of products. What kind of products were they and how were they not suitable for certain individuals?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Let me play devil's advocate. The EBS has avoided this issue and in spite of the great efforts of the Chair to have someone accountable from the EBS come before us, it has continually avoided coming in and dealing with this issue. We will continue to pursue it. What would Mr. Kavanagh say, if for example, the EBS was to say it did not force agents to mis-sell the product, that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: We have that. I wanted to give Mr. Kavanagh an opportunity to put that on the record at this meeting. After contracts were terminated with the witnesses, do they have any information or evidence to suggest that this type of practice continued with new agents? Do they have an estimate of the number of products that EBS was involved in mis-selling?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate Mr. Kavanagh's evidence. We have the letter from the gardaí saying that they are not following up on this. A significant problem is that some of these matters are not deemed criminal offences. We need to clamp down on this and make these criminal offences. We in Sinn Féin hope to follow up on this with the Central Bank, AIB and EBS.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that. I thank Mr. Lawlor again for putting his information and personal story on the record. This is a scandal. These things start with one person. A comment was made earlier about how whistle-blowers are sometimes perceived as contrarians, cranks or such. If somebody said a number of years ago that every single bank that had sold a tracker mortgage in the country had ripped...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Banking Matters: Discussion (16 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that. I believe that this is a genuine case. I note that many people have issues with banks and financial institutions but some are given advice which is not good advice, and I always encourage people to seek professional advice. The committee needs to follow up on this. Maybe after this meeting, we can send the entire transcript to the Central Bank, highlight some key...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Aviation Industry (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I spoke to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, on Saturday as the news emerged of the liquidation of Stobart Air. I pleaded with him to drop the idea of going for the tender process and to embark instead upon the emergency procurement process. I am glad to say that has been announced this morning, and it could mean we can have these services up and running within what the Department...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Aviation Industry (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I reiterate that I welcome going with an emergency process that I discussed with the Minister on Saturday. I also discussed with him the fact other airlines were interested in this lucrative PSO deal. I am pressing the Government tonight to see if this process can be shortened in any way. The Minister for Transport said that the process would begin next week but the Minister of State has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 58. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of forward purchase agreements that were made prior to the passing of the financial resolution on 19 May 2021 providing for a 10% stamp duty measure on the bulk purchase of homes, such that the residential units under such agreements will not be subject to the measure when they are completed; the number of such units; the number of such forward...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: In the middle of May, the Government brought forward a financial resolution to the Dáil to provide for a 10% stamp duty charge on the bulk purchase of ten or more residential homes. I assume the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage crafted this measure in the full knowledge of activities in the housing market. Will the Minister indicate...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: That is an interesting but not surprising response from the Minister. He has no idea how many forward purchase agreements are already in place, yet he exempted every single one of them from the 10% stamp duty charge. He has no idea how many transactions have been completed since that date, yet he exempted them all from the increased stamp duty. That speaks volumes about how the Government...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I ask the Minister to let me explain this to him. It is not about apartments. He exempted every single apartment from this stamp duty charge. This is about homes. He exempted funds that are buying full housing estates if there was a forward purchase arrangement already in place. That is the point. It is nothing to do with apartments, every one of which is exempt in any case under his...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic and Social Research Institute (15 Jun 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The State withdrew from it for a long time. The problem is that even when the Government has re-entered, it has not been up to scale. Read what the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, said and stop dodging the question. It said to double capital investment in housing. Sinn Féin has been saying it year after year. The Government has remained tone deaf to that message. As a...