Results 1,661-1,680 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Our view at this time is that the best approach is via guidelines rather than legislation.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Senator should know by now that the Department of Finance is always right.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: It would be helpful to me if the committee made a recommendation on having an ISL version of the national anthem. It would not meet any resistance from me. To be honest, the issue of copyright is off the agenda. We cannot tiptoe around it.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I am not trying to influence the committee, but I think we should start with guidelines. It is only in the past few years that people have started to respect the national flag. During the years in council elections, for example, we have seen the national flag being thrown around the place or draped around people. That has come to an end. The Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, should be...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: It is nearly sorted out.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will try to answer the questions as best I can. I think only a small number of countries have their national anthems enshrined in law. Of those I am aware of, I think India, Pakistan and Russia have done so.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Status, Treatment and Use of the National Anthem (5 Dec 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Canada is a fourth. It is probably best to try guidelines to start. That is just an opinion; it is up to the committee to go in whatever direction it chooses. Do we really want to start prosecuting people who use the flag in appropriate ways for commercial purposes? The number of occasions concerned is small. Another matter I want the committee to consider shows the maturity of a nation....

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: No cases have been brought to my attention relating to taxi drivers whose insurance has increased by such an amount that they have gone out of business. If the Deputy is aware of individual cases, I ask that he tell me and I will take up the matter. If someone has not had an accident, or there is no obvious reason that his or her premium should increase, I ask that the Deputy make me aware...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: -----is that it is in the interests of the insured young drivers.

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Of all the insurance issues I have taken up since I was appointed Minister of State, this involves the most effective group of people I know. The group is cross-sectoral and comprises officials from the Departments of Justice and Equality; Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Finance, as well as the Central Bank. Everyone is working to try to implement the recommendations made in the report as...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I will touch on the issue of fraud as quickly as I can. Fraud has a major impact on the cost of insurance. There are two types. The one which receives more coverage is where somebody sets up an accident. Another type which occurs much more frequently than the first involves over-exaggerated claims. There is a perception that it is not quite fraud because the Irish mindset is that if...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Was that the cost of the motor insurance premium?

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I thought I had heard of everything, but this is the first time I have heard of that happening. I will ask the officials whether they have been made aware of it. One criticism I have of the insurance sector concerns the arbitrary nature of the figures quoted to customers. On multiple occasions an arbitrary figure seems to have been plucked out of the sky. One man told me that his...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance Regulation (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 14 together. The cost of insurance working group's report on the costs of motor insurance was published in January 2017. It makes 32 recommendations, with 71 associated actions to be carried out within agreed timeframes which are set out in the action plan. The most recent meeting of the working group took place on 25 October and the group has met...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Setanta Insurance was placed in liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. As the company was incorporated in Malta, liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. As the Deputy is aware, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on 25 May 2017 and overturned the previous decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal that the Motor Insurers Bureau...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The legal letter from the Maltese law firm only arrived in the past few weeks and I have not yet received advice from the Attorney General on it. I have asked the officials in the Department of Finance who are in charge of this section to progress the matter as quickly as possible in terms of getting a legal opinion from the Attorney General. At that stage, I intend to sit down with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (30 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I am told that the next round of payments, up to 65%, will be in February. I will check if there is a legislative gap and if that is the case, I will come back to the Deputy on that. If it is a legislative issue, it will probably be difficult enough to resolve because as the Deputy knows, the insurance Bill is awaiting pre-legislative scrutiny. If it is not a legislative gap but something...

Public Service Pay and Pensions Bill 2017: Second Stage (29 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: It is a pleasure to be here. When this legislation started going through the House in 2008, Fianna Fáil was on this side of the House and we were on the Opposition side. The options were limited and we were going through a particularly scary period. Anyone who has heard me talk about where we have come from and where we are now will know I describe the last decade as the lost decade....

Seanad: Ireland's Bid for European Banking Authority: Statements (29 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on Ireland's bid for the European Banking Authority. We also had a very good discussion last week in Dáil Éireann. Ministers from the 27 EU member states decided last week where to locate the European Banking Authority, EBA, and the European Medicines Agency, EMA, when both agencies leave the UK. This was a real...

Seanad: Ireland's Bid for European Banking Authority: Statements (29 Nov 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I thank the Acting Chairman. I thank members for their comments. On the question of air miles, I covered 16 countries in six weeks. At one stage I was in nine countries in two weeks. At the start of the process, it was said that we had no friends, that it would be like the Eurovision song contest, and that we would get six points. That was not the case. We have many friends. We are...