Results 17,401-17,420 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. You say in your statement that interest roll-up facilities were frequently offered by the financial institutions between, say, 2001 and 2008, and that Ballymore would always have requested interest roll-up facilities over the term of the loan. So can you explain that feature of a loan arrangement? And where would it be most suitable that during the, let's say, the development phase,...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Sure. The evidence that we have heard, as an inquiry, is that that interest income, while not being actually received while it's being rolled up, was being recorded as income by the banks and the loans were deemed to be fully performing because they were acting in accordance with the loan agreement because no repayments were due. And, of course, when the crash came then, the full extent of...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----and that the model wouldn't------
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. How many companies were there in the Ballymore Group? Because you indicate that ... if I'm reading your statement correctly, that there was a separate corporate entity for every project.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: For each development. So at any point in time, how many companies would you have had------
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Over 20.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And they would all have had the same parent company? They would all be sitting within the Ballymore Group?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Can I take you to the issue of political donations, Mr. Mulryan, which is dealt with on page 18 of your statement? And it's 020 on the system. So it shows donations to public reps, or parties, from the 2001 to 2008 and, by my calculations, the amounts add up to about €128,000 over eight years. And there's a breakdown by party, and it show Fianna Fáil receiving 55.5% of...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----rationalise that?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Sure. And your group also supported Fine Gael, PDs, Labour, but to a much lesser extent, and-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Sure.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And why would you support political parties, or public representatives?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And did you ever feel that you gained influence for your business by supporting politicians or parties financially in this way?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Why would you say that?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. Can I ask, Mr. Mulryan, in the pre-crisis period, did you or others in Ballymore believe at any time that a property bubble was in the making? Did you at any point see what was coming and start pulling back from investing in the Irish housing market, for example?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: And did you believe there would be a soft landing; that the property reductions would be 10%-20%, as opposed to 50%-60%?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (22 Jul 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. On the issue of the valuation process that banks would have undertaken, this is an issue the Central Bank looked at after the crisis and they said credit institutions were often negligent and imprudent in the manner in which they requested property valuations, so my question is, did you observe any difference in the rigour applied to valuations sought by Irish banks as opposed to...