Results 14,441-14,460 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Leaders' Questions (8 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: We could get the information from the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, if he were here. I understand the Taoiseach told us earlier that he was in Galway. I find it extraordinary, given this turn of events and the fact that a senior Cabinet Minister has resigned, that the Tánaiste would not be here, but I will come back to that. The Minister took the opportunity earlier to extol the...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: There are no domestic water charges there.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Commemorative Events (6 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 329. To ask the Minister for Defence the changes that have occurred to the invitee list for the State's Easter Commemoration; if the list of persons previously invited has changed in recent years; his views on the way that it will change in the future; and if the relatives of those involved in the 1916 Rising will continue to be invited to future ceremonies. [19973/14]

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (1 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I fully agree with the Chairman. It is now apparent that we have no option but to seek powers of compellability. I am not sure there is much merit in picking over the contents of the two letters that we received, save to say the following. My impression is that they are letters that, if you like, throw the kitchen sink at this committee. Their allegations are bogus and designed to stall...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Do not be so sarcastic. I do not appreciate it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I would go further. Whether this is accidental or deliberate, I sense a level of flippancy, almost, in the presentation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am simply saying it. This situation is not unique to me as a public representative dealing quite regularly with people who find themselves in a distressed situation facing an intimidating banking system. It is not helpful if I hear a flippancy in the witness's presentation, and I hope it is only me. For people who are in this awful position to hear a flippant attitude or remark from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: We are dealing with the prospect of people losing their family home-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----so I do not want the Governor to come here and crack jokes or to use terms such as "so-called loss of ownership" routes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Right, and I am the person the Governor is dealing with. I am marking his card, as it were, because that does not sit well with me. For his information, it also does not sit well with the people I represent. I will leave it at that as I have made my point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I very much doubt that. We have been given the health warnings surrounding the judgment yesterday, and I appreciate that. What is the number of staff still in the Central Bank who would have worked with Patrick Neary?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What is the story at the more senior levels of the bank? Patrick Neary is gone but the Governor does not operate as a sole trader or lone ranger. He has a senior team around him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Would it be possible to provide the committee with more substance and detail on that? I am not looking for individuals to be named but just to develop a sense of the churn within the institution under the Governor's watch as against the watch of Patrick Neary. That would be helpful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It would be useful and instructive for the committee to have some detail on that. Can I ask-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: With regard to the transparency surrounding the arrangements or solutions that are tabled between a borrower and the financial institution, and there will be scenarios that are acceptable and can fly while others are rejected and so forth, the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, agency has been very critical of the fact that there is no database that sets out in substantive terms the nature of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Without trawling through everything that happened in the banking collapse, something became apparent, namely, senior bankers regarded the regulators and the Central Bank as patsies. The Governor is not a patsy for the bankers, is he?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Governor referred to angry bankers being in contact with him. Briefly, what caused their anger and why did they get in touch with him?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Has anger been expressed to the Governor by domestic bankers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I could be wrong, but my strong impression, having listened to the Governor's previous contributions at this committee as well as today's, is that the Central Bank and he as its leader have not just taken a hands-off approach to the banks, but have also adopted a hands-off mentality. The Governor has brushed off the issue of the tens of thousands of legal letters that are dressed up as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Central Bank of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not my objective to set a collision course with the Governor. I have sat and listened-----