Results 10,121-10,140 of 26,465 for speaker:John McGuinness

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: The Department imposed on the credit unions an annual levy of €7 million for four years. They now have a right to stop paying into this fund because it is now in its fifth year. They are asking when the annual payment of €7 million will cease, which is a fair question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: No, the Department asked for €7 million per annum for four years. On what legal basis is it asking the credit unions to pay this sum for a fifth year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: Is it provided for in legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: If there is legislation around the fund and it refers to specific timeframes and so forth, the Department is illegally taking money from the credit unions in the fund's fifth year. They should be repaid with interest and penalties if we were to adopt the position taken by the Revenue Commissioners on money due to them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I am simply stating that if the Department did a deal for four years and it is effected for a fifth year, there is something highly illegal taking place.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: Will Mr. Carville tell us something if he comes back? The merry-go-round does not suit anybody and we are all getting sick of it. I thank both delegates for coming. I would like them to look at the transcript of the meeting to help them to determine the questions on which they have to come back to us. They can then write to the clerk with the answers. Both of them said they had to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I ask them to come back to us as quickly as possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the joint committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: Is the Senator's question whether it is for the sector?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I will pick up on a question from Deputy Sherlock about the number of credit unions about which Ms McKiernan is concerned. Her answer to Deputy Sherlock was that an analysis was done in 2014 and that an analysis will be published some time this year. What figures did Ms McKiernan have in mind when she gave that speech on 8 March?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I understand that but on 8 March, Ms McKiernan made this statement so she must have made it with certain figures available to her. What figures were available to her on 8 March?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I just want to know the figures to simplify it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: Let us consider the speech given on 8 March. Would Ms McKiernan not accept that, on the basis of the speech, anyone listening would run a mile from the credit unions? Without an explanation for the numbers involved, we do not know the scale of the issues she is describing to us. I would have far preferred if she had answered in numbers by saying that the Central Bank has concerns about a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I still have concerns. I am going to work quickly through what Ms McKiernan said to try to restore some structure in terms of the position of the Central Bank versus the credit unions. Earlier, officials from the Department of Finance appeared before the committee. The representatives clearly said that everything was the fault of the Central Bank, basically, and that everything was under...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: The point is the Central Bank will not quantify them in numbers. That is my concern. I think it is necessary for the Central Bank to spell out the numbers we are talking about. Credit union representatives put it to us that they cannot develop their businesses because of the extent and nature of the regulation that they fail to understand. Ms McKiernan referred to the business model...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: That is fine. It takes me back to my question. How many basket cases does the Central Bank have? How many credit unions is the Central Bank concerned about? Ms McKiernan did not give us figures. She says it generally in terms of the credit unions. She says that some require more attention than others and that some are not observing regulation. It is only fair to those doing their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I thank the witness for the explanation. I will finish on that particular point. The witness said that mentioning the number would make it the focus. However, when the number is not mentioned, they all become the focus. I think that is unfair to those credit unions that are performing. I believe most of them perform reasonably well as of now because of the corrections that were made by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: I understand that. General commentary like that is also destabilising because it sucks the confidence out of a sector. That is the problem that I see in it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of the Credit Union Sector: Discussion (23 Mar 2017)

John McGuinness: That is fine, once the witnesses tell us how many there are. This forum here is trying to drill down into the issues around credit unions, why they are not allowed to do one thing or the other and the regulation around them. I accept the witness's point, but I want to know how many credit unions we are talking about. We are not going to get the figure, so I am not going to labour it....