Results 1,581-1,600 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I will take that. The story has gotten out that we have not secured our fair share of jobs but I am satisfied that we have. There was much conversation. The best example I have of this is with Lloyds Bank, which chose not to come to Ireland. Lloyds Bank had 17 jobs. The other insurance companies, XL Catlin, Shaw Insurance Agency, Legal and General, Beazley Insurance, Beazley Re, Royal...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I do not have the 2017 number. Anything before 2017 would not have been the full year, with Brexit's effect, because there were many conversations that would be required that started and did not finish, and licensing would not be concluded. As I said, we are pleased with where we are. It is important for people, which I am glad the Deputy outlined. It is no longer about the quantum of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: It is a work in progress. Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis attended a European Financial Forum, EFF, a number of weeks ago. I think he was in here the following day. He outlined that it is something the Commission is progressing. It is a slow burner. Not everybody is in agreement - there is protectionism within the EU 27. We would like it to progress. We do not know where it will...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, will address the matter of the market but I have one point before that. I have a concern that one third of the financial services sector is unregulated. Trillions of euro of products and services are traded worldwide, unregulated. We - regulators and legislatures - are catching up with financial services. Crypto-currencies are the best example of that. It is...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: The cost of insurance working group, a cross-departmental group, has a meeting every month and we raise all these issues. On average, motor insurance premia are down by 16% year on year. There has been an increase of 57% from the low point, but that was when there was a price war and the outcome of price wars never tends to be good. We are not going to see decreases of 57%. The employer...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: It would be because much good work is being done and it is not being spoken about. This is a work in progress and it will take time as there are constitutional issues. We asked the Law Reform Commission to consider whether the Oireachtas was capable of capping awards. We hope to have its paper back to us as soon as possible.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: Much has been done and there is much more to do. We still have the really hard bits and pieces to do.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (22 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: The Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, said he had not met any of the vulture funds. As a matter of record, I have not met of them any either.

Topical Issue Debate: NAMA Portfolio (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I do not want to get into a bashing session on the zoning, which is really a matter for Fingal County Council.

Topical Issue Debate: NAMA Portfolio (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: Changing the zoning is a matter for the local authority not the House. I speak as the chairman of my local GAA club and I am well aware of the super facilities, sporting opportunities and everything else that clubs bring forward. I am not aware of Tyrellstown GAA directly but if the local authority has organised 60 acres for community and amenity space, it is a lot of ground and there...

Topical Issue Debate: NAMA Portfolio (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: It is not. The Deputy is talking about what has not been done but she has chosen to ignore what I have read out and what has been done also.

Topical Issue Debate: NAMA Portfolio (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: When I was given this issue, I contacted the Taoiseach and I have been made aware of some of the background to it. It is important to note that NAMA has a commercial remit and a statutory objective to obtain the best achievable return for the taxpayer. However, in the context of its commercial remit and consistent with section 2 of the National Asset Management Act 2009, NAMA is at all...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: These products are designed to cover policyholders for their entire lifetime or for as long as the policyholder wishes to continue to pay premiums. To decipher that, there is, in effect, no such thing as a whole-of-life policy in that the policy is reviewed every five years. That is the net effect of what is happening. A consumer who has made a formal complaint to a financial institution...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I have met a number of people who have got caught up in these policies and cannot continue with them because of the premia being charged. For example, there are people with policies worth less than €100,000 who have paid in over €100,000 and the premium is now €10,000 or €12,000 a year. There is a substantial case to be investigated and my Department has recently...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: It is something we want to try to pursue. I have to admit I am annoyed at this behaviour. For people who are mis-sold a product, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. That is the place where we should be able to bring the matter to a conclusion. If legislation is required, I assure the Senator I will not be slow to bring it forward.

Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: It is easy to make statements but not back them up.

Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: Deputy Nolan said nothing has been done on white collar crime. I refute that. The Government has published a package of measures aimed at tackling white collar crime, co-ordinated by the Departments of Finance; Justice and Equality; and Business, Enterprise and Innovation. Many of these actions have either been completed or are under way, including the Criminal Justice (Corruption...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Motor Insurance Costs (13 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I thank Senator Byrne for tabling a Commencement matter as it gives me an opportunity to outline the position. Members of the Seanad will be aware that the report on the cost of motor insurance was published in January 2017. It made 22 recommendations, with 71 associated actions to be carried out. The aim of the implementation of this report is to try to remove the volatility that we have...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Motor Insurance Costs (13 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: I would like to put it on the record of the House that I have also heard of dozens of such cases. One gentleman came to me whose insurance premium had increased from €700 to over €1,000. He pursued the company and went to a different broker. The broker went to a number of companies and eventually got back to the company this gentleman had been with. He managed to get his...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Community Banking (13 Feb 2018)

Michael D'Arcy: As Senator Conway is aware, the Departments of Finance and Rural and Community Development are responsible for fulfilling the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government to "thoroughly investigate the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions". Under the local public banking model, a state or another public body has...