Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is my first time to greet the Minister of State. I welcome her to the House and congratulate her on her appointment. As the saying goes, it is never too late. Today is a good day but we all know it is long overdue. Several years after the Central Bank recommendation to make individual decision makers and financial institutions responsible for their actions, we now have a Bill that will make that a reality.

Despite the significant changes and improvements to regulation and supervision of the financial sector in the years since the financial crisis, the tracker mortgage examination brought serious failings in Irish banks to light. These failings have had severe financial and other consequences for customers of institutions in the financial sector and have resulted in low levels of public trust in the sector. This legislation, which introduces an individual accountability framework, has its roots in the Central Bank's report, Behaviour and Culture of the Irish Retail Banks. This was produced in 2018 at the request of the then Minister for Finance to examine the culture and behaviours and their associated risks in Irish retail banks, and the action that could be taken to ensure that banks prioritised customers' interests in future.

The individual accountability framework is made up of a senior executive accountability regime, a duty of responsibility and a conduct of standards for individuals, and facilitates the breaking of the participation link. The introduction of this framework will build on the reform that has taken place in the regulation of the financial sector in Ireland since the financial crisis, placing new emphasis on individual and personal accountability and responsibility.The Government approved the drafting of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill in July 2021. It introduces legislative changes beyond those approved by Government in the general scheme in order to incorporate provisions guaranteeing fair and transparent procedures in light of decisions of the Supreme Court.

The overall aim of the Bill is to enhance individual accountability for senior executives in a number of customer-facing financial sectors and to clarify appropriate levels of conduct for a large cohort of individuals across all regulated financial service providers while at the same time balancing individual accountability with collective responsibility. It also aims to improve the processes by which individuals are assessed for their suitability for a financial service role and allows for investigation where there are reasons to doubt their suitability under the fitness and probity regime for financial holding companies established in Ireland. The Bill seeks to incorporate fair and transparent procedures in light of decisions of the Supreme Court and enhance the sanction procedures so that breaches of individual accountability provisions are penalised appropriately and proportionately.

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill. It is never too late and this is a positive move. We hope that adopting this legislation will restore public confidence in our banking sector. Many people have doubts about the sector. We support the Bill.