Results 19,621-19,640 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: No.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Can Mr. Doorly clarify in regard to the 2013 restructuring of the group? There was a reduction in the overall debt of about €300 million-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: -----part of which was the repayment of debt using the proceeds from the disposal of certain assets. Can Mr. Doorly clarify what was the debt write-down by the financial institutions as different figures have been thrown out?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: It was about €140 million.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Is the breakdown of that on the public record between the eight financial incitations, including AIB and Bank of Ireland?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Would Mr. Doorly have any comment to make on the contrast between such a large debt write-down for a large corporate entity and the treatment of ordinary people who took out large mortgages during the bubble years and who are now struggling under massive levels of debt and are not getting a write-down?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: I have a final question for Mr. O'Regan. Does he have any regrets about the reporting of the Irish economy and the property sector and the balance of coverage during his time as editor of the Irish Independent?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Does Mr. O'Regan believe he did enough using the platform he had to challenge the consensus that was there?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: The exchange was with Senator MacSharry.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: I welcome Ms Donovan and Ms Kennedy. Both dealt with the separation of editorial policy from commercial considerations in their opening statements. Ms Donovan stated "Editorial policy at The Irish Timesis the responsibility of the board of The Irish Times Limited" while the day-to-day policy is a matter for the editor. Did the board also deal with the commercial performance of the company?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Is there not a direct overlap between the editorial side and the commercial side?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Is there not a contradiction?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: The ultimate governance of editorial policy was also responsible for the commercial performance of the company.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: That is fine. The Irish Timesduring the period in question seems to have had a greater dependence than other newspapers on revenues from property-related advertisements. At the peak, 17% of total revenue for the business was accounted for by property-related advertising. We have had evidence already from the Irish Independentand Sunday Independentthat, on average, property-related...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: The acquisition of myhome.iehas been well covered. However, Ms Donovan stated in her opening statement, "During the reference period the company sought to balance increasing exposure to the property sector through a range of diverse activities." However, the largest investment the company made in its history was directly linked to the health of the property sector. How does Ms Donovan...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: During the period in question, did The Irish Timeshave a specific policy governing the acceptance of gifts or corporate hospitality by journalists from banks, auctioneers and property developers? Did it instead rely on the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, and Press Council codes like the other newspaper titles?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: Ms Kennedy has gone to great lengths going through all the editorials during the time in question. On reflection, even taking account of the editorial space given to minority and divergent views, could more have been done to challenge the broad mainstream consensus on the economy and property sector?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: I thank the Chair and welcome Mr. Mulhall and Mr. Mulligan and thank them for their time. Mr. Mulhall referred earlier to the "Liveline" programme of Thursday, 18 September 2008 during which there was discussion of the security of people's deposits in the banks and people deciding to take their money out. Rumours were running wild at that stage and it was reported at the time that the late...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: What was his core message to Mr. Mulhall when he phoned him?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (26 Mar 2015)
Michael McGrath: I think there was talk on the show of people taking money out of the banks and putting it under the mattress or burying it in the garden. It was reported subsequently that within 24 hours, about €50 million had been transferred into An Post guaranteed State savings products. It was also reported that the production team of "Liveline" were rebuked by senior management at RTE because...