Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 8 Mar 2021
THE NATIONAL TREASURY Management Agency (NTMA) has said it has withdrawn the authority of firm Davy to act as the primary dealer in Irish government bonds with immediate effect.
The NTMA said that Davy’s position as a dealer of government bonds was “potentially damaging” to Ireland’s reputation amid a growing scandal.
Last week, the Central Bank levied a fine of €4.1 million against the company after a probe found four breaches of market rules by Davy between 2014 and 2016 in relation to a bond transaction.
The scandal has led to fierce criticism of the firm, and its CEO resigned at the weekend.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe referred to the matter as an “exceptionally serious” issue, while Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath called it an unacceptable breach of trust.
Writing in TheJournal.ie, Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty urged the government to cut all ties with Davy unless individuals were held to account.
In its statement today, the NTMA said it has made its decision on foot of the “very serious findings” against Davy last week and after “engagement with investors in Irish government debt over recent days”.
It said: “A primary concern for the NTMA is to maintain the reputation of Ireland as a sovereign issuer in the bond market and the orderly functioning of the market for Irish Government debt.
“In this context, the NTMA believes that the behaviour described in the Central Bank findings falls substantially short of the standards expected from market counterparties, peers and colleagues in the bond market and is potentially damaging to Ireland’s reputation as a sovereign issuer.”
Minister Donohoe, in a statement this evening., said he felt the NTMA’s decision was “appropriate”.
He said: ‘I note and support the decision taken today by the Board of the NTMA. This is the appropriate decision given the recent very serious findings of the Central Bank.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Its been a long winter & the only thing keeping us going is the prospect of a relatively normal summer. I would hate to think of how things would be if there was no vaccine on the way!!
Important now to stay with the restrictions for a few more weeks so we can get moving again sooner rather than later.
What a joke of a country we are. My friends mother is 85 and still hasn’t been vaccinated. My relatives in UK have all been vaccinated and the UK plans to open by Easter. In other European countries where I have relatives, everything is open. Yet us oh no. You won’t get vaccine till end of year, there’s no plan to open up country.
@Allison Smith: maybe because of what happened when we opened up the country in December? What is to indicate that people will act differently this time?
@Allison Smith: I think Ireland has a higher rate of people fully vaccinated than the UK…
@Clubhouse Barman.: no it doesnt, nowhere near it.
@Clubhouse Barman.: as per vacine website ,uk on saturday Uk have 25% we have 5%
@Liam Collins: UK has more people because they are going with a single injection strategy which is against the manufacturers recommendations. They also have over 120k dead.
Let’s not compare to the Uk.
UK handing out first jabs. Not so fast with second jab.
@Clubhouse Barman.: You’re probably thinking of people who have had two doses but the uk are leaving 3 months between doses and science seems to agree with this now especially with the Astrazeneca vaccine,
But they probably have more fully vaccinated than us anyway.
@William King: I’m thinking fully vaccinated as per manufacturer’s recommendations. People spout about how Ireland cant do anything right but without figures to back it up.
@Ed Cooper: …people like you Ed….
@Allison Smith: yes well there are pharma companies based in the UK. Ireland prefers foreign direct investment to developing indigenous industry so we have no native pharma.
@Clubhouse Barman.: manufacturers have said that up to 12 weeks is fine and first dose provides a good level of immunity. It looks like a decent strategy. To be fair it’s the only decent strategy the UK have had, but they’re doing well
@Allison Smith: UK only have about .8% of their population vaccinated.
@Allison Smith: A few points that need to be mentioned. You can’t label us as being ‘a joke’ seeing as we are obliged to follow the regulations of the EU and the European medicines agency, and this has hindered the rollout in all member states of the EU. So, therefore, it would be appropriate to label the EU as ‘a joke’ rather than Ireland.
Secondly, the below comment that Ireland has more people ‘fully vaccinated’ then the UK is factually correct. The UK has decided to go with a single vaccination strategy with the Oxford/Astrazeneca, and then the second dose 3 months later. So as things stand, we actually do have more people ‘fully vaccinated’ in contrast to the UK. There is also a lot of debate as to what strategy is more efficacious, with much research highlighting that the UK’s method is just as efficacious.
@Bobby: anyone comparing Ireland to the UK simply has to look at deaths per capita and get back in their box.
@Fred the Muss…: Not against the WHO or manufacturers advice of 8-12 weeks between doses. Not against the experience of previous 2 dose vaccines which finds that the prime dose imparts an average of 70% of the efficacy of the 2 doses. No doubt the UK have got an awful lot wrong in management of the pandemic but they are leading the way on vaccination. Getting the primer dose into as many people as possible will reduce serious illness and hospitalisation cases by factors. 25k doses of AZ arrived here weekend of 7 feb, only 10k administered by 13 Feb… hardly world beating performance!
@Allison Smith: there are few European countries where everything is open. As you know.
@Fred the Muss…: one of the highest per million in the world.
@SC: that’s irrelevant.
@SC: last time I checked my payslip, it clearly stated I work for a pharmaceutical company. Must check whether I’ve been sacked or my company still exists. But I’m sure you, as a journal commenter knows better
Last time we opened up at 200/400 cases a day 1800 people died in six weeks
@tirnanog1979: That was when we didn’t have multiple effective vaccines being administered to the population, and during the height of winter when weather conditions encourage people to gather indoors in tightly compact areas. This is a different time, we now have begun vaccinating the most vulnerable, and weather conditions don’t force people to gather indoors. There is no reason why we can’t begin to slowly reopen the economy and get people back to work once numbers are low. And then from there, tightly monitor outbreaks with stringent contact tracing etc
@Bobby: You had me Bobby until tightly monitor outbreaks. We have not done that since day one. Three clusters in meat plans at the moment and they carry on working away as normal. Great the old and vulnerable are well on the way to getting the vaccine but if we get this wrong we can still over stretch the hospitals and icu if numbers get out of hand
@tirnanog1979: That was winter. When we opened last summer, cases were very low all summer and that trend was seen all over Europe. Even in England where the pubs were open.
@Newto2016: Yes, but we opened in summer with 3 cases a day not 200-400
@tirnanog1979: in 2019 an average of 596 people died in Ireland per week making a total of 3576 for your Covid 6 week period (ref. Central statistics office Ireland)
@B: and was the the whole country in a lockdown for half the year in 2019
People are getting tired of this because our government is doing such a bad job .
@Andy Harding: there’s also a level of personal responsibility that needs to be taken, of people literally stayed at home and only left for necessary things like groceries then we would’ve progressed much quicker but people aren’t taking this lockdown half as seriously as the first one back in March
@Sibéal Ní Chathasaigh: Exactly that.
Send the students home. A minority have shown they are too irresponsible. Do the lectures online until next year.
@Munster1: genius ….. thank god everyone else isn’t as dim
How is it that last year a month long lockdown would have had us back in single figures for cases. Whereas now, it takes 2/3 months of lockdown to reach 100/200 cases. Are they making this cack up at they go along? The hospitalised numbers also dropped far quicker than they are now.
@Brian Stafford: New variant is much more infectious.
@Brian Stafford: More transmissible variant?
@Brian Stafford: Starting from 7000 cases a day all of who were symptomatic + who knows how many more untested asymptomatic positives also.
@Brian Stafford: it took about 3 months to get to that and it was a much harsher lockdown last year. We locked down at a higher peak too. That’s about it
@Brian Stafford: far stricter lockdown last year, many more places were closed especially when it came to construction and factories and noticed a lot of shops had reduced opening hours
Excuse me for not taking your predictions too seriously, I remember ‘as much as 2000 a day’ being quoted prior to Christmas, I think the number predictions were absolutely way off before and once bitten, twice shy…RIP to the people who have passed since Dec 8th or so and I feel for the families
Read a story earlier of a man and his family flying from a red zone country into Scotland, and went in quarantine in a hotel, but because their flight stopped off in Dublin en route, he got to leave after one day because Ireland is within the common travel area with the UK.
We’ll likely now have others doing that so they don’t have to quarantine in a hotel.
@Wayne Quinn:
1. Where did you read that?
2. Who cares if they do it, they won’t be in this country anyway. That’s a matter for the Scots.
@TomTraubert: well if Britain also doesn’t get their situation under control then it will make our situation that much more difficult because if there’s a common travel agreement then there are people who will absolutely take advantage of that, on both sides.
We should track these numbers, hospital numbers and ICU numbers as or more carefully as cases. If they fall off more rapidly, as you would expect, than cases because the vulnerable are protected then we need to think about opening up without panicking about case increases. Herd immunity is great, and the end game, but with the vulnerable are visibly protected in the data some restrictions should be lifted.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/over-2-000-travellers-have-been-infected-with-covid-in-third-wave-1.4486924
So unfair, tomorrow we will bury a member of our family who died from covid although he had Leukaemia, our loss is just as real but we follow the rules and 10 people it will be at the funeral, there should be no exceptions, .
@Honeybee: Sorry for your loss Honeybee, we had a family funeral in December where the numbers at the funeral were limited to 10, it’s hard but we followed them for the greater good.
Having read the link you posted it works out at about 15% of travellers have been infected in the third wave alone, this would roughly equate to 750,000 of the general population being infected and they are being prioritised for the vaccine because they aren’t sticking to the rules, joke.
@The next small thing: Thank you for your kind expression, it is only when it comes to your doorstep that the loss is keenly felt. it seems so unreal not to attend a family funeral. What is worse is that I can not visit my Dad as he is 90 and is supposed to be getting the vaccine shortly, and as the death is covid related I will not risk Dad getting infected, not when the vaccine is in sight, we both have health issues so we are playing it safe, just wish it was different but not taking chances.
have your say