Results 13,121-13,140 of 36,748 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister needs to examine a number of issues before we dismiss the fact that we are pumping millions of euro into this company through rental income. The first aspect that concerns me is the sale of Green REIT itself, which is the landlord in this case. Under the Minister’s watch, Green REIT and its shareholders have enjoyed tens of millions of euro in tax being avoided through...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Vehicle Registration (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: 275. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of efforts taken by his Department, An Garda Síochána and the relevant tax authorities to resolve a matter further to a reply received in response to representations made by this Deputy on behalf of persons regarding the issue of vehicle registration (details supplied); when this Deputy can expect to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Care Packages Provision (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: 317. To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the delays in securing approved homecare services for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; if supports will commence and be made available to the person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39301/19]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Services for People with Disabilities (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: 381. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the significant gap which exists between the funding requirements of a service provider (details supplied) in County Donegal and the core funding allocated to the organisation in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39619/19]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: 515. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has received concerns from the tourism industry regarding the potential negative consequences on the sector owing to the new limits introduced with respect to cruise ship traffic using facilities at Dublin Port; if he has received requests from port authorities for additional funding in order to upgrade and-or expand harbour...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the witnesses and their opening statement. Like Mr. Justice Hedigan, I, too, am a sceptic on this matter. That being said, anything that might improve the culture within banks is to be welcomed. However, I am very sceptical of this because it is about the banks and the industry trying to get out first. It came about in light of the major tracker scandal, and when it eventually...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I take Mr. Hedigan's point. He spoke about the banking crash, banking culture, the tracker mortgage scandal and what he referred to as yesterday's story. Given that the board's raison d'êtreis to effect culture change, we need to understand where the board believes the culture is within the bank at this point. One could be forgiven for suggesting, as Mr. Justice Hedigan did, that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: How does that rest with the facts? Two of the senior directors in the banks to whom Mr. Justice Hedigan referred, and which fund his organisation, used obscure arguments to try to frustrate their customers' attempts to make a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. The customers were entitled to make the complaints because of legislation, which I brought in and which was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I want to touch on something or perhaps it is a bit of advice. I note what was said about the board's intervention regarding banks fighting the ombudsman on allowing those cases to be heard. KBC was fighting 27 cases and Bank of Ireland was fighting 50. I assume that when the board contacted the CEOs of the banks, they said upfront that theirs were the banks involved. The board contacted...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Did the banks let the board know that they were the two banks involved? I refer to KBC and Bank of Ireland. Did they inform Mr. Justice Hedigan as chairman after his queries to the five board members, who are the representatives of those banks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I know and I am not suggesting that. The intervention is helpful from Mr. Justice Hedigan in that regard. Where I differ from him, however, is in the statement that he issued. In his opening statement, Mr. Justice Hedigan said the financial institutions and banks needed to regain trust. He referred to the scepticism because his board is funded by the five main banks. It is an industry...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I hear what Mr. Justice Hedigan is saying. I do not want to labour the point that anybody who reads his statement could infer that the banks did a good thing by waiving that right, but the banks were completely in the wrong. They were in the wrong as opposed to being consumer-focused and customer-centred. I will not labour the point, but, if one wants to build trust where there is a clear...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The issue of tracker mortgages is not finished. There are 1,200 cases before the Ombudsman and others are and will be before the courts. Those cases, although yet to be adjudicated on, involve people who, rightly or wrongly, feel let down by the system and the banks. The customers of some banks have challenged them legally. The banks are settling out of court with a confidentiality...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I have one final question but to follow on to this issue, is the board willing to accept information and documentation that would show this is happening or does the board have its own agenda? Is this more an issue for the Central Bank? I am conscious that the board does not want to be flooded with what other agencies of the State can deal with. On the broader issue, there have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I will finally ask a question on the tracker mortgage issue. Some of these cases will be dealt with on a legal basis and it is to be hoped that others will get satisfactory resolutions at the level of the ombudsman. In 40,000 cases, the banks have had to put their hands up, state they had wrongly taken money from their customers and to pay that money back and compensate them. Many of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Let me reframe the question. I would never question whether Padraig Kissane, as a member of the board, was in any way a less passionate advocate for consumers. I know that Mr. Justice Hedigan was not suggesting that, but it is not a question of how speedily the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman deals with complaints. The issue is that the banks have not resolved these issues and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Irish Banking Culture Board: Discussion (1 Oct 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I thank both delegates and wish them well.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2019)

Pearse Doherty: On the same issue, the data released today by the Residential Tenancies Board for quarter 2 of 2019 show that the rent pressure zones have been breached in 22 out of 26 counties. In six counties, renters are experiencing double-digit increases. In Dublin, rents are now on average €1,700 per month. That means that a renter in Dublin city is paying €1,600 more this year than he...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2019)

Pearse Doherty: My question to the Government is this: will the Government now do what Sinn Féin called on it repeatedly to do, namely, implement a three-year rent freeze and introduce a refundable tax credit equivalent to one month's rent per year during this period?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Come on.