Results 9,401-9,420 of 12,320 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Reports (6 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: 71. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to discuss the report into the Jobstown protest given to him by An Garda Síochána on 26 July 2017 with the acting Garda Commissioner; if he will recommend changes in Garda procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5683/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Reports (6 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: 104. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he has examined the report into the Jobstown protest given to his Department on 26 July 2017 by An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5682/18]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union Matters: Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: I welcome the Commissioner and his team. I want to explore the area of the European semester and economic governance. I will explain where I am coming from. I was in the European Parliament from 2011 to 2014 when some of these measures were introduced, including the six pack, the two pack, austerity, and the fiscal treaty. What we saw was an example of the shock doctrine of using a crisis...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union Matters: Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: I will respond to two points. Mr. Dombrovskis said the rationale for the fiscal rules was the idea that the crisis resulted from irresponsible public spending and rising debt, etc. That is not the reality across the world or, in general, across the European Union. It certainly was not the reality in Ireland. In Ireland, pre-crisis, we had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 25%, which was as low as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union Matters: Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: If people vote for a dictatorship, it does not mean that it is not a dictatorship. Does Mr. Dombrovskis know what I mean? One can have something that emerges from a formerly democratic procedure that is undemocratic. Could I ask one more question?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union Matters: Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: Sure. I will come back at the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: It is clear that in many cases Ulster Bank has abused its customers not once, not twice, but three times. It first robbed them of the tracker rates to which they were entitled, second, it harassed some of those people when they fell into arrears, and third, even compared to other banks, it has been dragging its feet in providing appropriate compensation and redress, which is an ongoing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: Would it be in the region of €100 million?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: Why does Mr. Stanley think this happened in the first place? Why were people taken off tracker mortgages or their correct rates?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: Mr. Stanley has similar beliefs to the witnesses from Bank of Ireland and AIB. They have similar stories. A commercial decision was taken on the offer of a tracker and that had-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: Those knock-on effects were unidentified in advance of the decision.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: I find it hard to believe that Ulster Bank and the other banks did not anticipate that knock-on effect or, indeed, want it. Is Mr. Stanley aware that there was tension in the mortgage centre among the staff who were working on tracker mortgages and that the staff at ground level were put under pressure to not allow people back on to trackers and to get people off them? In some cases that I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: I suggest that Mr. Stanley investigate that because it indicates that staff were uncomfortable with what they were being asked to do. It also indicates that they had a better ethical approach than the management which was driving this process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: It is quite a coincidence that Ulster Bank took advantage of what it now says was an ambiguity in the terms given to people on tracker rates and that the other banks did so at the same time. Was there any communication between Ulster Bank and other banks on this issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: It just so happens that this standard practice, this ambiguity and this failure to think through knock-on effects had a positive effect on the bank to the tune of €100 million. We are expected to believe that it just so happened that the situation benefited the bank to the tune of €100 million and that nobody thought it through. Does Mr. Stanley understand how I find that hard...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Tracker Mortgages: Ulster Bank (1 Feb 2018)

Paul Murphy: They were right. Mr. Stanley has accepted that they were right. They did have a right to revert to a tracker rate.

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Paul Murphy: 90. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a review of the affordable purchase scheme in order to use publicly owned land solely for social and affordable housing will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4574/18]

Other Questions: Home Loan Scheme (31 Jan 2018)

Paul Murphy: 117. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a review of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme to improve its affordability will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4573/18]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base: Discussion (25 Jan 2018)

Paul Murphy: I welcome the witnesses and I very much welcome Mr. Tang's comments on radio this morning. Mr. Tang comes from the Netherlands and it is important that he is being honest about that country's role in a global chain of tax avoidance. We need to be honest about Ireland's role in that chain. It is tax piracy not only against other European states but also against less developed countries. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base: Discussion (25 Jan 2018)

Paul Murphy: I agree with that. Transparency is key. We have argued that public, country-by-country tax reporting is necessary so that we see exactly what the corporations are up to. The reaction of the Government on the Apple tax does not reflect the attitudes of ordinary people. Ordinary people see that there is €13 billion available and wonder why it cannot be used in respect of the housing...