Results 1,921-1,940 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Did Mr. Vaughan ever have any indication from the bankers, or in talks with his journalists, particularly when the Irish Examinerwas on Academy Street and they were on the South Mall, that things were happening in banking in Cork that could not continue? Did any bankers communicate to him that a crash was likely to be on the way?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Ditto with the property sector. Did anybody in the property sector communicating with Mr. Vaughan or his journalists say there was going to be a crash?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: I was hoping the rebel county would have lived up to its reputation. The Central Statistics Office is located in Mahon in Cork. It is a major advantage for the Irish Examinerin terms of getting data on issues such as the way property lending took over Irish banking. Does the Irish Examinerhave first use of all that data and good contacts with the CSO?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (25 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Mr. Vaughan noted the rapid movement in Irish bank lending towards property to the exclusion of virtually everything else, so he had a warning signal.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: I note the publication of a petition last Wednesday by 51 eminent scientists, including Boyle medal winners, arguing that the new strategy for science should reconsider balancing the funding of science to strongly support not only applied or oriented basic research but also basic research across the full range of scientific disciplines. There is a view that knowledge cannot be trapped into...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Let us assess this from the point of view of the country, not what suits the officials in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, who have a long tradition of allowing cartels to operate between airlines, with huge fares and so on. They are so keen to have Aer Lingus absorbed into British Airways. It is not in the Irish national interest that it should do so, and we need a debate in...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank Dr. Elaine Byrne for her presentation. On page 238 of the book she quotes Eurobarometer research that the level of trust in government in Ireland fell from 46% to 10% between June 2008 and June 2009. Is that connected with the work of this committee? Was it a critical factor? It is certainly contemporaneous with one of the events at which we are looking.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: In the aftermath of what happened on 29 September 2008, however, there was a massive decline in the level of trust from 46% the previous June to 10% the following June.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: What is the number now? Has it been updated?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: When Dr. Byrne was replying to my colleague, Senator Michael D'Arcy, about her interview with Mr. Declan Costello, on page 86 of the book, she found that he had proposed measures in 1974 which were strikingly similar to the post-1995 Irish corruption legislation. For the benefit of the committee and people watching, what were these measures?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: On page 7 of Dr. Byrne's presentation today, she refers to the payments for whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 in the US. Is it up and running? How does it work?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Dr. Byrne quotes in her book the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, when he was talking about the professions. This was a matter pertaining to the sugar company. The Minister said in the Dáil, "I know it is a widely held view among the professions in this country that dog does not eat dog. I believe, however, that the taxpayer who paid £1.1 million for this report was at least...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Dr. Byrne cites on page 125 a senior civil servant congratulating a subordinate for confusing a Deputy who had asked a parliamentary question and was subsequently referenced in the tribunal. If the questions that were asked in the Dáil were answered in the way they are answered here, there would be no need for this inquiry. Does that indicate a culture of dishonesty in the permanent...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: When Dr. Byrne was replying to Senator D'Arcy, she referred to the tax breaks and a concern about those and the way the Finance Bill appeared each year. How would she recommend that we deal with tax breaks?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Would those Canadian parliamentarians have an estimate of the purported costs and benefits? That is one of our problems. We do not know what the cost of a tax break might turn out to be.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: We rely a lot, as Dr. Byrne knows from the Constitution, on the Comptroller and Auditor General to help in these matters. Would Dr. Byrne strengthen the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General in any way to deal with the issues she has been raising with us this morning?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Dr. Byrne mentions on page 7 the register of liabilities. It seems plausible that a politician who is in debt will be more susceptible to the kind of conduct Dr. Byrne has been describing. How does that work in the countries she mentioned, for example, Australia, Finland, New Zealand and so on?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Chairman. As to banning beauty contests in favour of auctions, why have they been turned down so many times? Dr. Byrne said it and Professor Colm McCarthy says it, namely, we still want something that is not open and transparent like the auction would be.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: Yes.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (12 Mar 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Mr. McDonald. He talked about tax breaks and so on. Would he have misgivings about real estate investment trusts, REITs?