Results 1,821-1,840 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: In the course of her address Professor Hardiman stated: "Banks engaged in very risky lending practices not least because their own shareholders put pressure on the directors to match the performance of the most profitable institutions, which were also the most risky." If there is no legal restriction on profiteering, for example, in the home building industry, and profit is a key driver of...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Professor Honohan said in his evidence today that there has been a tendency to overstate the extent of the impact of that night's decisions and that it would be hard to deny that 80% to 90% of the overall hardship that followed the bursting of the bubble was already inescapably embedded in the situation. Would he understand if many people listening to that evidence today, who suffered the...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Did the sovereign State accepting responsibility for huge amounts of debt that did not belong to it-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: -----create the burden that caused huge amounts of austerity later?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: First, is it conjecture in terms of the extent of it and, second, even it if was €10 billion or €12 billion, is it the case that very painful cuts to ordinary people in terms of their services could have been avoided with that €10 billion or €12 billion?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: That it is conjecture.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: I assume Professor Honohan accepts that other people would have a different view on the extent of the hardship that would have occurred, but-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: As they say in Africa, the lions have a different view of the hunt than the hunters when they-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (11 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Finally, Professor Honohan says that nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and INBS would not be the same as burning bondholders. What should nationalisation, as he advocates, have involved?

Leaders' Questions (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: No.

Leaders' Questions (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: That is nonsense.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Carswell mentioned that by around 2004 it would have taken a benign dictatorship to reverse the direction in which Anglo was going in terms of the huge growth and profit-taking, and he referred to a juggernaut of support in the markets, which I take it would mean banks, bondholders, developers, etc. On the other side of the equation, where was the voice of the small people at that time,...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Should there be legislation controlling speculation, profiteering on building land, and the feed through to the price of an ordinary home?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Amazon's advertisement for Mr. Carswell's 2006 book, Something Rotten: Irish Banking Scandals, states the following:Ireland has tolerated a culture of poor standards and weak regulation in its financial services sector ... A tradition of silence and evasion prevailed. Driven by an insatiable hunger for profits, some bankers had taken huge risks. But whistleblowers were unwilling to remain...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: In his statement Mr. Carswell details the cosy relationships between major players in the property sector, the construction industry and government and elected representatives. If one had not had this relationship, would the property bubble not have blown up?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Was the presence of the Irish Financial Services Centre, IFSC, a factor in the light-touch regulation which developed? Did the IFSC Clearing House Group see regular meetings between senior public servants from the Taoiseach's Department, the Department of Finance and financial institutions? Did this play a role in the alleged light-touch regulation which transpired during the bubble?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (10 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Mr. Carswell's opening statement tells us, "There are examples of politicians and public representatives getting involved in land speculation deals, building projects and property investments, in one notable case, in partnership with a major figure from banking, while continuing to serve as public representatives, right up to and during the economic crisis." Is it Mr. Carswell's view that...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: Labour used to say it would not be in a right-wing Government either.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Irish Water Establishment (4 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: 22. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding the commitment in the programme for Government regarding the Irish Water networks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3364/15]

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (4 Mar 2015)

Joe Higgins: A briefing paper from the researchers to the committee indicates the following, "The increasing role of investors and speculators in the residential property market was a source of concern to the Irish Government when it commissioned Bacon's first report." Was that Dr. Bacon's understanding of why the Government commissioned his succession of three reports? He has just told us of his belief...