Results 11,361-11,380 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Okay. That is it.

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I welcome the Minister to the House. What happened to the Seanad report? Why are we doing this all over again?

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: The Seanad report in 2008 did exactly what we are now welcoming as the beginning of a process of doing it all over again. What a waste of resources, time and the use of this House. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, was whining in recent about the abolition of democratic processes with borough councils. We have had broken promises on electoral reform from this Government from beginning to end....

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Two wrongs do not make a right. I am not here to defend anybody. I have no difficulty in saying how stupid and wrong it is to be wasting resources like this. From a constituency perspective, no county boundary should ever be breached. I am in a constituency, as is Senator Comiskey, where Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan will form one constituency. That is a disgrace. There is no...

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: With the greatest respect, the Acting Chairman has an extremely narrow interpretation of the motion if he does not think this is absolutely in direct relevance to it.

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: They are the kinds of reforms that are needed. Instead of the reforms, however, we have the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin. He has so much respect for the Seanad that he is happy to look after senior civil servants and special advisers and break pay agreements in order that he can pay them as much as they want. As Senator Paschal Mooney said yesterday,...

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I have no difficulty with judging the governments of the past. I am here now to hold this Government to account. I apologise for saying this to the Minister but Irish Water is another waste of money and time. Can the Minister acknowledge that the people of Sligo matter as much as those in other counties? Does he want to push them out into the Atlantic because they do not have any...

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: We are all citizens of Ireland. It is not for a Labour Party Minister or a Fine Gael Minister to say the people of Sligo can sing for it. We want electoral and political reform that is representative of the people, not more BS which costs the people's money and wastes resources.

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Spokespersons speak first.

Seanad: Establishment of Electoral Commission: Motion (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: When Senator Landy has been in the House as long as I have, he will share my frustration.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I thank Dr. Bacon for taking the time to be with us today. With regard to the Central Bank, Dr. Bacon said in his testimony that it was "unclear what legal force the Central Bank can apply to determine what mortgage lending should be". Can he expand on that? Does he feel the Central Bank had any power at the time to determine how banks acted? What is his sense of that?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: That is very clear. In the context of the financial crisis, Dr. Bacon has stated:Ireland was not hit by a sudden shock in mid to late 2008 that no-one could have foreseen, as has been often contended. The fact is that the stock markets could see what was coming-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: No, I am quoting from the report, A Contribution to the Debate on National Economic Recovery. Why is Dr. Bacon of the view that everyone - with the exception of Morgan Kelly and David McWilliams - did not get it and failed to read what was happening in the stock markets? I refer in this regard to the Government, the IMF, the EU Commission, the Central Bank, the regulator and the ESRI.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Did Dr. Bacon foresee what was going to happen?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: In terms of his testimony today, Dr. Bacon has clearly indicated his belief in the correct nature of the establishment of NAMA. He suggested that short-term debt recovery versus the realisation of the long-term value to the taxpayer may be debated. Is he of the view that if more capital had been available to NAMA in respect of work-outs rather than disposals, it could have given rise to...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: In A Contribution to the Debate on National Economic Recovery, Dr. Bacon refers to the potential for NAMA to be part privatised to an international private equity investor.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Does he remain of the view that this could be done?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Again, in A Contribution to the Debate on National Economic Recovery, Dr. Bacon refers to how cautious the EU response was to the crisis here. Did the EU response benefit or adversely affect the Irish taxpayer?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: With the benefit of hindsight and his expertise as an economist, will Dr. Bacon give us a sense of his view on the Irish response to the crisis?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Marc MacSharry: That of the Irish Government. I refer to the response here in Ireland to the crisis. With the benefit of hindsight and his expertise as an economist, will Dr. Bacon provide his assessment in that regard?