Results 61-80 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Reports: Mr. Peter Tyndall (30 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: In other words, it will take some time to be resolved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Reports: Mr. Peter Tyndall (30 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: There is a financial constraint.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Reports: Mr. Peter Tyndall (30 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank Mr. Tyndall.

Seanad: Ireland 2016 Schools Programme: Statements (29 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister to the House. The year 2016 will be a great year to be a schoolchild due to the extraordinary range and depth of programmes that the Minister and her officials and committees have conjured up. Of course it has been more than conjuring and it is the result of much hard work, but there is imagination at work also in trying to reach out. The programme offers certain...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Chopra, you said that Ireland was adamant to repay its sovereign debt. Was that something unusual, and why were they so adamant?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: When you talked about Mr. Mody's first phone call in February '09, and you say in your statement that there was further consultation or conversation, perhaps, later in 2009 and again in 2010. And, indeed, Professor Honohan told us here about a phone call he'd received when he was in Heathrow Airport from Mr. Mody asking him whether or not, and he said, "Well, yes, maybe you should try it."...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Were you trying to get Ireland to face up to the seriousness of what was happening?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: And so, was the IMF disappointed that Ireland, if you like, you know, from 2009 all the way through to November 2010, before, because ... because Mr. Mody doesn't just get on a plane and calls don't keep being made unless there's good reason, surely.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Well, in fairness, I didn't use the word "badger"; you did. I suppose "determined", I think, was possibly what I was thinking. Given the letter that Mr. Trichet wrote, and you said, I think, in earlier evidence, that you had not seen the letter 'til it was published, were you aware of the letter when it was written at the time because, obviously, it caused some consternation in the Irish camp?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Okay. And can you tell us how you became aware and whether you raised it with the ECB at the time and made the very strong and firm views that you have made public now ... did you make those views known at the time?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: And that was prior to it being sent. Then after it was sent, when you had heard that it had been received, you, I assume, understood about the firmness of it. Did you then raise your concerns with anybody at the ECB and say, "Hoy, this is not the way to proceed"?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Given the firmness of that letter and the tone of it, as you saw, would you say that it was a troika of equals or was the European, the ECB, if you like, stronger and tougher and more assertive in what it wanted for Ireland, and did that leave the IMF trailing behind?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Just a ... can I just-----

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: On a ... if you like, on a scale of one to ten, but - it's an unfair thing - how serious was the crisis in Ireland, given you're own experience in the world and in the bank?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Thank you, Chair. Mr. Buti, Ireland obviously contributed from the National Pensions Reserve Fund, its €17.5 billion. Was this part of the deal? Was this a precondition for the bailout?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Going back to the time of the guarantee in 2008, you said that there was no contact from Ireland to you. Was there any . . . sorry, why did the Commission not contact Ireland? I mean, you would have been aware, obviously, of the seriousness across Europe, across the world, in fact, so why could you not have initiated contact? I don’t mean you personally, Mr. Buti.

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I do understand that, Mr. Buti, but in terms of conversations that might have been ongoing how . . . if you were . . . you’ve said you were in touch, how could it be then that this literally falls out of the sky? I mean, if you’re having conversation or were the conversations of a different kind? And were you saying, or was the message, "No bank should be allowed to fail"?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: Were you aware that the IMF had made contact with Ireland and that Mr. Mody had come to Ireland in February 2009 to talk about the crisis?

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: And that was February '09 and there was more contact in May '09 and, again, in May '10. So was the view of the Commission that, really, Ireland should have come earlier to seek assistance? Was it, by your estimation, at the time, now, I don't mean on reflection, I mean, at the time, did you think, "Are Ireland ever going to come looking for assistance?" Was it clear to you that Ireland...

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (10 Sep 2015)

Susan O'Keeffe: I appreciate that, Mr. Buti, and it's always going to be difficult, but I'm asking what the European Commission's view was ... leaving aside, if you like ... there's always a political dimension, but would you have wanted Ireland to have come sooner?