Results 18,221-18,240 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Sure. But, in preparing your statement ... and over recent months, you had the benefit of the official reports which were published and they dealt quite comprehensively with the issue of the powers available to the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank and yet you kind of left the issue of powers hanging there in your statement. It wasn't entirely clear.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. The annual financial stability reports ... you make, I think, quite an important point that, in a sense, it almost had to be sanitised because of the risk of stoking fear or spooking the horses, as you put it. But doesn't that go to the very heart of the integrity of the document? I mean, you said earlier on that the financial stability report didn't reflect the concerns of board...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Sure, but I would put it to you, Mr. Patterson, that the words contained in the report were very important. People relied on that report. Businesses might have made investment decisions on the basis of the Central Bank's assessment, that the fundamentals were strong, there would be a soft landing, that there are risks but they are manageable. You know, individuals were reading the...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: This probably would have been 2006 or '07. And I remember voices in the board saying "No, we can't say that because, if we do, we will bring about the very thing we're trying to avoid".
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: But would it have been better to not publish a report at all, rather than publish a report that didn't reflect the concerns of board members?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: But I would put it to you, Mr. Patterson, that people don't expect the Central Bank to be engaging in spin.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: I didn't say-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: I didn't say that there were lies involved, but, I mean, you've made what I would regard as quite a significant statement, that the financial stability report didn't reflect the concerns of board members.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Of all board-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: But there was an overriding requirement or a feeling of necessity to, in a sense, dilute, water down any major concerns-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----that you might have had-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----that the board might have had.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay. Can I just finally ask you, Mr. Patterson, we had evidence from Patrick Neary. He told the committee that Mr. David Drumm raised the issue of Seán Quinn's contracts for difference with him in a private meeting in September 2007. Was that matter brought to the attention of the board? And I'm conscious you became ill quite shortly afterwards but can you recall?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: You can't recall when the issue first-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----came to the board.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Ever?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Okay, thank you.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: Chairman-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (11 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----Mr. Patterson, you're ... you're under oath, you're a compelled witness, and you were asked a straight question there, and I will just rephrase it. Like, do you believe that the financial stability report accurately reflected the collective views of the board of the Central Bank and IFSRA?
- Central Bank (Mortgage Interest Rates) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Jun 2015)
Michael McGrath: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this Sinn Féin Private Members' Bill, which was introduced by Deputy Pearse Doherty. While we have some reservations about some of the details, the Fianna Fáil Party will support the legislation, as Second Stage is about broad principles, and I support the broad principle of giving the Central Bank the power to intervene in...