Results 41-60 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Oireachtas Reform Programme (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I welcome the fact the Chief Whip has indicated he would be open to a committee on Dáil reform as we need to examine our working methods. The multiplication of sessions and sitting days will not make the House work effectively unless we have real changes in working methods that allow Members to supervise the work of the Government. Nonetheless, I welcome the Chief Whip's commitment in that...

Oireachtas Reform Programme (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----Fine Gael is taking a very cynical attitude whereby Seanad Éireann should exist as a subsidy for its political interests for the duration of this Dáil.

Oireachtas Reform Programme (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: With regard to these endless sitting days, if Ministers are not present and we just have discussions about tsunamis or tribunal reports, that is not accountability by the Government. Will weeks be set aside for committee business in this proposed reform?

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In a press release yesterday on the legislative programme the Chief Whip indicated that tackling the jobs crisis was the top priority of the Government. If that is the case, is there an indicative figure in the jobs budget for the number of jobs that will be created? Does the Government have such an figure and what will the cost be? Why is there no indication of a supplementary budget in...

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We all agree that the most fundamental issue is job creation. When will the jobs budget announcement or statement take place?

Order of Business (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is not agreed in one respect. A question and answer session during which the Minister would be accountable to the House was mooted last week in respect of this subject. Serious issues arise regarding the bank reorganisation and the sustainability of the debts being undertaken and Deputies need to tease out the implications with the Minister. A pre-announcement briefing was not provided...

Order of Business (6 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There will, therefore, be a question and answer session.

Bank Bailout and EU-IMF Arrangement: Motion (5 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: One can adapt the law in an emergency.

Bank Bailout and EU-IMF Arrangement: Motion (5 Apr 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I wish to share time with Deputy Michael McGrath.

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I welcome the Minister. It is not a precedent or innovation for the Minister to address the House in the wake of stress tests. Last year, on the publication of the stress tests by the Governor and the Regulator I brought the response of the Government directly to the House. The Minister, I am glad to say, as I requested last Thursday, has kept with that precedent and outlined the...

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ——clearly represents a dramatic escalation of what was found by the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator this time last year.

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is something that for all our sakes I am anxious to ensure. I wish the Minister——

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ——well in his job and I draw his attention to a difficulty created by the stress tests. It is worth looking at them and the type involved.

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The stress test assumes that house prices will return to 2002 levels by 2040. It also assumes that marking to market should take place on all investment properties, irrespective of the reliability of the tenancies and their payments. I was delighted the Minister outlined that the stressed cases represent definitively a worst case scenario. I hope so because were those stresses to...

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This Government has made a virtue of suggesting that it has some moral superiority in this area but on Saturday last we were informed in The Irish Times, clearly by Government sources, that this emergency €60 billion scheme for Irish banks would be introduced in parallel with today's announcement. There is no reference to it in today's announcement. I wish the Minister well and hope he,...

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We all agree on that. The question of senior debt, even in Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, is not raised. Perhaps the Minister has decided to be discreet about this and work in private about it. If that is the case, I would respect that because much of the talk about default on senior debt in Ireland has had an adverse effect on deposit taking in the Irish banking...

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I did not say that in the House.

Banks Recapitalisation and Restructuring: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I did not. Let the Deputy check the record.

Making Committees Work in the 31st Dáil: Statements (31 Mar 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I welcome that we are having this debate which allows us to make a contribution and intervention on the subject of parliamentary reform in the context of committees. I will comment on a general feature of public debate that I have noticed in much recent commentary and media presentation of politics, where it is suggested that the function of politicians in Dáil and Seanad Éireann is to...