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Matt vs Mario.
ECB President Mario Draghi has written a letter to Matt Carthy, after the Sinn Féin MEP raised a number of questions about the European Central Bank’s involvement in the Irish bailout.
Draghi told the Midlands North West MEP the ECB did not call on Ireland to burn bondholders.
I must be absolutely clear that the ECB does not have any authority to issue instructions to any euro area government or its ministers, in the same way as euro area governments and EU institutions are not in a position to issue instructions to the ECB.
However, he said he thought the decision to protect bondholders was the right one.
Draghi reiterated his position that the ECB cannot appear before the upcoming banking inquiry, telling Carthy:
“Owing to the ECB’s accountability to European institutions and primarily to the European Parliament, the ECB is not in a position to participate in inquiries conducted by national parliaments.”
However, Dragi did add that the institution “stands ready” to interact on an “informal basis, outside the context of the banking inquiry”.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Carthy said he was not satisfied with Draghi’s stance, saying the letter “reinforces” the need for the bank to send representatives to appear before the inquiry.
“The letter is long and in some respects detailed, but it raises as many questions as it does answers,” Carthy stated.
Carthy said he and fellow MEPs “will do whatever we can to get any level of engagement” and called on the government and banking inquiry committee to “exert enough pressure” on the ECB to provide witnesses and documentation.
The legal structures needed to compel politicians such as Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, as well as senior bankers and institutions, will be signed off on today. It’s unlikely the ECB will be included in this.
Michael Noonan and Pearse Doherty had great craic during yesterday’s Oireachtas Finance Committee meeting – yes, really. Must be the spring weather.
There was good will on Twitter yesterday, after the adoption rights bill was passed in the Seanad.
Marie Moloney / TwitterCongrats to @JillianvT @averilpower @senhealyeames on passing their adoption bill through Senate today. Delighted to support their bill.
— Marie Moloney (@mariebmoloney) February 18, 2015
Originally published: 9am
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Digital money loses value on each transaction. The banks and government chip away at the value until they have total and utter control over your currency. That is not democracy. The Irish government’s agenda is to regulate and account for all money in circulation. This legislation is a peacemeal gesture to trick Joe public into believing governments want to give people a choice. I’ll let you in on a secret, they don’t. The Irish government don’t now, and never will, work towards a better society. They don’t care about you. If they cared, they’d fix education, health care, housing and the cost of living. They can. They just won’t. The reason for this is the same as it has been since the
@Shane McGrath: …..foundation of the Republic. Votes. Irish politicians, save a small few genuine patriots, join the public service so the public can service them. They join as an end in itself, not to fix anything. And all they care about is staying on that salary, staying in government and getting through to pension time. Irish politics is a smarmy, vulgar and distasteful world.
@Shane McGrath: Absolutely well said Shane.
@Shane McGrath: I’m not saying the government is perfect, far from it but you can’t just wave a magic wand and fix all those things. It doesn’t work like that. As a country we are massively exposed to global events, we have too much red tape at a local level – on housing specifically. Healthcare is a spiralling mess that will never be fixed. We have one of the fairest societies in the world when it comes to gap between rich and poor, with a very generous welfare model. That said it’s the middle that get squeezed.
@Shane McGrath: so who are these ‘patriots’ you mentioned?
Cash is king imo. I’d rather but it under me bed than pay a bank to mind it for me.
@Paul Gorry: what’s your address Paul?
@The Boss: 221B Baker street London.
All businesses in all sectors should be made accept cash.
@Grant Masterson: legal tender as far as I remember is everything except cheques. Businesses had to acept in tge past . Got an A in junior cert business rofl
In a cashless society if the Internet goes down due to cyber attack, under sea cables being cut everything would stop. Nobody could buy anything, no fuel for your car, no food could be bought, no purchases of any kind.
I have refused to give my custom to any business that refused cash during covid and any that refuses it now. If my money is not good enough for you, you won’t be getting any of it
I find it the opposite here in the West, takeaways doctors and pubs ask for cash.
@Liam Russell: I usually find that the ones asking for cash don’t like to give receipts either. I wonder why.
@Liam Russell: what’s a takeaways doctor?
I walked out of IKEA a few months ago. Left 2 trolleys full of stuff with nearly €800 because they refused cash. The manager was an absolute kn*b. Speaking down to me cos I wouldn’t use my card. So I walked out.
@John Barry: from IKEA’s own webpage:
“What payment methods do you accept?
At IKEA stores, we accept bank cards (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover and Diners Club), IKEA Gift Cards, CASH and certified cheques and bank cheques.”
Did you lodge a complaint with corporate over it ?
@John Barry: why wouldn’t you use your card though? What was the back story?
@John Moylan: Yes I looked at the site when I went home & sent an email which I got a reply saying “thank you for your email, we’ll be in touch within 3 days” Still nothing back.
@Sean: Back story?? No back story. I just didn’t want to use my card out of principal. As a consumer, I should have a choice of what course of payment I can use.
@John Barry: a store is under no obligation to take cash as a form of payment for a debt. They can refuse cash if they want. Why didn’t you just pay by card
@Mark: No they can’t. I don’t know where you got your info but that is wrong. Cash is legal tender and they’re legally obliged to accept it.
@John Barry: So you spent hours navigating your way around and queuing up in IKEA only to walk away empty handed out of “principal”? Boy, you really showed them up, Karen.
@Paddy Kennedy: LOL. See here: https://m.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/can-a-business-legally-refuse-to-accept-my-payment-in-cash-41939772.html
@Kevin Collins: Haha I was in there for less than 30 minutes cos I knew what I wanted & where it was. One person in front of me in the que. So wasn’t a waste of time Bridie
@Mark: I guess you didn’t check the citizens information. Cash is legal tender & is therefore able to be used in any transaction for goods in any business.
@John Barry: again I don’t think you understand legal tender. The term means they can be used for debt repayment, it does not mean they have to be accepted. The 1c coin can’t be used to pay off a mortgage, or your rent.
Banks cant make much money off cash so you can be sure they’ll do all the can to get rid of it
I was always under the impression that Cash was Legal Tender and shops etc were oblidged by law to accept. I’m flabergasted.
@David Daly: Legal Tender only means it can be accepted as a form of debt repayment. But it can be refused, for instance a €0.01 coin is legal tender but cannot be used to pay for large debts, like a new car. There is no law requiring a business to accept cash. They generally allow card payment as the alternative payment method
Absolutely all businesses should take cash
Cafe near me don’t accept cash.
@ChadChaderson: It’s legally obliged to take cash. Put in a big order then tell them you don’t have anything except cash and see how quickly they change their approach.
@Paddy Kennedy: it just said in the article they are not legally obliged to accept cash if they have notices up.
@Sean: Why don’t you check the legislation? That has the same effect as car parks saying they accept no responsibility for damage or injury caused on the premises and guess what happens when someone has an accident there? The sign is produced and the owners are told that it’s not legally enforceable.
Exact same, putting up a sign doesn’t usurp legislation because it’s written down in a window.
have your say