Results 9,901-9,920 of 21,149 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Was it asking for Mr. Rowntree's imprimatur, acquiescence or agreement regarding this approach?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I accept that but-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: So Mr. Rowntree thought it was worth exploring.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I assume Mr. Rowntree makes that remark of consideration based on a very rigorous examination of the decision to sell the portfolio and at what rate and value-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Okay. It then gets very interesting. That happened on 7 October. The board met on 10 October, approved it and said it was going to examine the proposal. By early December, the indicative offer from PIMCO was on the table and by late December moving into early January, there was approval to dispose of the thing so it happened very quickly. Maybe that is the way these things happen. I...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: At that stage, the indicative offer was on the table. At that meeting in December, an update regarding the University of Ulster at Jordanstown project was provided.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: What I do not see is an update regarding-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----PIMCO and Project Eagle.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: It appeared that the eagle had flown.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Let us tease our way through this because the documentation supports Mr. Rowntree's point. That is the meeting in December. December through to January saw the approval to dispose of the portfolio and the appointment of the sales advisers. It broke in the media in February that something was afoot. The data room was opened in February and there was material with the Comptroller and...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: The committee met in October and there was no update at the December meeting. The next meeting was on 28 April in the Ewart Suite in the Hilton Hotel, which I know well, in Belfast.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was a done deal at that stage.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: So Mr. Rowntree's point is that far from this being a Northern matter-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (13 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----in fact, the Northern committee was completely written out of the equation in respect of the sales process. Would that be a fair reflection of the facts?

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----it would have occurred to him that the figure of €15 million to deal with waiting lists was a bad joke. Much has been made of the Government's child care initiative. I am glad to say we can all now finally agree that there should be a publicly-funded universal child care service. It is a public service, not a babysitting service. It is part and parcel of the early childhood...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Tick that box. We are on that page.

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: The money to be assigned to the child care scheme from September, however, is a mere €32 million. We will receive the full details of how the figures crunch, but €32 million is a very low figure. In our alternative budget we proposed a child care package that came in at a figure of over €250 million.

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, it looked to have a subsidised universal scheme and was in part geared towards the meetings the means of parents, but it also sought to lengthen the pre-school year by a further five weeks. The Government should really have done this. Having a 38 week pre-school year causes a problem for parents, as well as for those who work in the sector. I am coming to the end of my allocated...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: For a worker on a salary of €20,000, the USC cut that has been so lauded actually only amounts to €1.92. Perhaps those who will receive a fiver at some indeterminate date in March are the lucky ones after all, but that says very little for the Government's vision and ambition for the country.

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: The squeezed middle are still left with a tax on their family homes. It has been acknowledged in the course of this debate that property prices are rising, and in all likelihood that will continue. That is a big deal for the squeezed middle and the families who are faced with a charge which will only escalate. There is nothing for the squeezed middle in respect of student registration...