Results 11,441-11,460 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Professor McDonough said earlier that he favoured higher taxation and talked about the reduction from 60% to 48%. If tax reductions were to be offered now, would he see this as a repeat of the mistakes of the past?

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I second the motion. On the first occasion on which the Minister came to the House in his new role I noted how much I admired his straight-talking approach and wished him well. I expressed confidence that if anybody could reform the health service, it would be him. He responded by saying I might not be saying this within a few months and, sure enough, here we are. My colleague, Deputy...

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: The Senator can check the Official Report to see what he has been saying.

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: The reality is that the entire health service is underfunded. I am not saying it is perfectly well managed. Clearly, there are management challenges and changes that have to be made, but inadequate funding is the underlying problem. It has moved beyond the point of crisis and I do not envy the Minister his position. I accept that it is difficult to come up with adequate solutions. The...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I thank the professor for being here. In connection with the National Asset Management Agency, Professor Connor co-authored with Thomas Flavin and Brian O'Kelly "The US and Irish Credit Crises: Their Distinctive Differences and Common Features in 2010". He stated there that the Irish Government set up the National Asset Management Agency with the explicit goal of overpaying for banks'...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: In terms of the restricting of capital inflows, some of this was touched on before. Professor Connor said he believed that was possible. How were these policies controlled in other countries? Were there policies in other countries that restricted capital inflow and kept the punchbowl sufficiently at bay at key times? Can he give some examples?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I refer to net foreign borrowing.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Professor Connor spoke about blame and causes earlier. If we were to consider pillars such as the Irish Government, banks, the regulatory position and external factors such as the ECB, can Professor Connor apportion a percentage weighting of blame or cause?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Good morning Professor and thank you for being here. Not being an accountant, and conscious of the people at home, could you confirm that IAS No. 39 is the standard applied in accounting and auditing in Europe?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: What circumstances, if any, would need to have been in place where the standard would have allowed the value of loan assets to be written down, with losses reflected by the banks? It is clear from Professor Walsh's opening statement there were limitations on IAS No. 39 in that regard.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Is this the way to account for an impairment?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: If there had been acceptance of the credit risks that banks were running during the 2002-07 period, was there any scope to report on them in annual reports or periodic statements?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: In Professor Walsh's opening statement - the published statement, as opposed to the briefer one - he referred to the work of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in documenting the life cycle of a bank failure in 1997. Rather than quote every word, it spoke about rapid loan growth, concentrations emerging, aggressive lending and so on, as it stated and the record would show. In...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: In Professor Walsh's professional opinion, does he feel it is likely, unlikely or impossible to judge?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Professor Walsh could nearly consider another profession with an answer like that one.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I mean no disrespect. In Professor Walsh's statement he described the growth and the change in the composition of loan portfolios at the aggregate level in the Irish banking system as being the seismic shift that occurred between 2002 and 2007. He also stated: "The risks associated with increased commercial lending are well known and have been well known for many years." Given that such...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: If I were a bank or if there was a bank that decided to make a very large investment in an institution or a pension fund, would this be reflected in any way such that an auditor would see it? If that were the case, would there be any reporting obligation on auditors to regulators if, for example, an investment was seen to be particularly large, on the one hand, or, on the other, for a...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I do not want to be specific. I will not give the example, but if I were a bank and wanted to invest €10 million in Deputy Murphy's bank for one week and he gave it back to me the following week, would there be anything in auditing that would ring an alarm bell or would there be any obligation within the system or standards that would suggest to Professor Walsh that one would need to...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: I am nearly there. In terms of lessons, if any, what can be learned about how banks disclose information on their lending practices, investments and financial performance to help to mitigate future banking crises? To what extent are new rules and practices being considered and applied? Are they sufficient?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Feb 2015)

Marc MacSharry: Considering everything that has gone on, does Professor Walsh feel there are any reforms required to ensure the independence of the appointment of auditors? The perception, and I am sure that is all it is, is that he who pays the piper calls the tune.