Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To summarise, the proposal is that, in relation to the Freedom of Information Act as it pertains to the Central Bank we should refer this aspect of the petition to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, which is currently dealing with the Freedom of Information Act, to inform its ongoing research in this area and ask that committee to revert to us at the earliest opportunity with its views on how we might proceed.

With regard to the Ombudsman's jurisdiction over the Central Bank, we will send a letter to each of the parties involved requesting their perspective on how the committee might proceed. It is important that we first hear the Central Bank's views on the Ombudsman's purview over it. We do not want to take people out of their jobs for half a day unless we know exactly why we are doing so. If we can get information from the Central Bank we can then chose to invite officials from the bank to discuss the issues arising. In regard to the consumer protection element, we will write in the first instance to the Central Bank to ask for an update on its perspective. Is that agreed?