Results 16,021-16,040 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Health Board Services. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I reply on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children who strongly rejects the suggestion that the North Eastern Health Board has been under funded in the year 2004. The House will recall that overall funding for health and children's services in 2004 was the largest level of funding provided to any Department. Approximately €926 million was provided representing a 10.7% increase over...

Health Board Services. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This increase was above average. The Deputy refers to cutbacks in the context of a budget which was increased by 13.6%. The chief executive officer's introduction to the board's 2004 service plan acknowledges that the increased funding is substantial. He is correct. The increase represents the third highest increase provided in 2004. The Minister recognises the pressures on the board due to...

Natural Heritage Areas. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I make this reply on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin for raising this issue on the Adjournment. It is an important matter when a major stretch of land of high amenity value is destroyed in this way. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government understands that the fire in this mountain range, which is...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Motion to Recommit. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I object to one expression Deputy Burton used in suggesting that the Minister had been "got at" by the banks. The Minister has not been "got at" by anybody. He tabled amendments based on advice he received from the Attorney General about very difficult issues. It was stated that we have only one opportunity to address this matter. Deputies are concerned about the scandals that have emerged in...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Motion to Recommit. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is to the credit of the Minister that legislation is enacted and another Bill is well on the way towards enactment. I do not see any case for delaying the process of enactment of the measure before the House. At least it will improve the structure that exists. As a result of further investigations into the scandals we are discussing it may be that further legislative change may be...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Motion to Recommit. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As my amendment effectively negatives the Deputy's motion, I assume it must be taken first.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Motion to Recommit. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: My amendment negatives the Deputy's motion and it is put on that basis. The amendment should be taken before the substantive question.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Motion to Recommit. (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I must.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As set out in section 13, the function of the industry and consumer consultative panels is to advise the regulatory authority. The industry consultative panel has a specific mandate to provide the authority with comments on the levies and fees imposed by the authority to fund its activities. Neither panel has any role in respect of the financial services ombudsman, which has its own council...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I give that undertaking to the House with regard to the credit union movement.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I move amendment No. 46: In page 38, to delete lines 3 to 9 and substitute the following: "57BS.—(1) Within 3 months after the end of each financial year, the Financial Services Ombudsman shall publish a report containing—— (a) a summary of all complaints made to that Ombudsman during the preceding financial year and of the results of the investigations into those complaints, and (b) a...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: While the Minister has gone half way to meeting the amendment tabled by the Deputy, he cannot go the full distance. Much of the difficulty stems from the Deputy's insistence on the use of the word "authoritative" in his amendment. The ombudsman can make comments and recommendations on financial consumer protection in the State in the context of any investigation he or she carries out. Nobody...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The adjective qualifies the noun. The ombudsman is not in a position to provide an authoritative commentary. The authoritative character of an ombudsman's report stems from its character and the eloquence and ability with which the point is written up.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: To deal with the particular amendments proposed by Deputies Richard Bruton, Ó Caoláin and Boyle, subsection (3)(a) which the Minister introduced on Committee Stage already addresses the danger which the Deputies have raised. It means that if a financial institution acts in bad faith by commencing legal proceedings in order to frustrate the actions of the ombudsman, the ombudsman can still...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Subsection (3). An amendment by the Minister on Committee Stage brought in the new section 57BX(3)(a).

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The consumer is not entitled to make a complaint if the conduct complained of has been the subject of legal proceedings.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: No.

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Subsection (3A), as amended on Committee Stage, states: Despite subsection (3)(a), the Financial Services Ombudsman may accept a complaint against a regulated financial services provider who has begun legal proceedings in relation to a matter to which the complaint relates, but only if that Ombudsman reasonably suspects that the regulated financial services provider has begun those...

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (1 Jun 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I do not share Deputy Ó Caoláin's fears because I referred to the phrase "the conduct complained of" in ease of the jurisdiction of the ombudsman, not in restriction of it. We are debating a restriction on access to the ombudsman and a provision that a consumer cannot make a complaint if the conduct complained of is or has been the subject of legal proceedings before a court or tribunal....