Results 11,061-11,080 of 26,737 for speaker:John McGuinness

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: I welcome Mr. Bernard Byrne, CEO of Allied Irish Banks, and his colleagues. In advance of the meeting we collated questions from members and submitted them to the bank. They will form the backdrop to our discussion. 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...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: A vote has been called in the Dáil. I presume because it is on the Social Welfare Bill we must suspend. I apologise to Mr. Byrne. We will suspend until after the vote and come straight back to deal with Deputy Doherty's question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: Regarding the arrangements for the rest of the meeting, I will continue to chair the meeting. During the vote the Senators tell me they are quite capable of carrying on the business of the meeting without a problem. I invite Mr. Byrne to respond to Deputy Pearse Doherty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: I would like to follow up on Deputy Michael McGrath's questions by asking about vulture funds and the bank putting together a package of properties to go to the market. When the bank reaches the point at which it is looking at court proceedings in respect of homes owned by families, obviously all other options have been worked through by the bank with those customers. Has it seen any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: What does Mr. O'Keeffe see as the obstacles in that scheme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: How does the bank make itself heard in the context of informing the Government about mortgage to rent or mortgage to lease or in terms of attempting to deal with the numbers involved, particularly as everything else has been worked through? Is it through the federation, directly with the Minister for Finance or by some other method?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: On the EBS side, how many of the cases go to court? How many are in court? Is it a larger or a smaller number?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: My point on that process is that I have come across cases of customers - not just in my constituency but also in the context of approaches at national level - who are certainly unable to repay their debts. They then find themselves in court. It seems that not every avenue has been examined in respect of some of those cases. I can give Mr. O'Keeffe examples but I do not want to go into the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: Where can people who are in circumstances like those I describe engage with the bank? In fact, all one gets is "It is now with our legal representatives". In his opening statement, Mr. Byrne said he was conscious of the need to treat customers fairly. It may be that the bank has treated them fairly but now they are dumped onto the legal system and their cases are not being understood.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: We will see about that then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: A comment from the SME sector generally is that they cannot get support from the bank, whether it is an overdraft or whatever. I am talking in general about small businesses all over the country. Will Mr. Byrne comment on the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland fund and how the bank operates in the context of the fund?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: Am I correct that 90% of the loan applications from the SME sector is for amounts under €30,000?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: How long does it take to make a decision around that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: Where is that decision made?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: How long does it take to reach a decision on amounts for more that €30,000?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: When one speaks to business groups around the country, they often say the opposite is the case, that they cannot get a decision from the local branch. They might be talking about small amounts of money or the continuation of funding for a business.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: In the case of an application under the SBCI fund, how many applications were made and what is the refusal rate?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: I understand Mr. Mulhall to have said the approval rate was in the 90% mark A company or a person who has been refused a loan, goes to the Credit Review Office, and the Credit Review Office will say go back to the bank and the bank continues to say "No".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Allied Irish Banks (24 Nov 2016)

John McGuinness: I came across some cases where the applicant went to the Credit Review Office. They were reviewed and were sent back to the bank, but they did not get it.