Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I get the feeling that we are again fighting the battles we had on Second Stage of this Bill. As has been said, this Bill passed Second Stage unanimously despite the reservations that the Government had. I think the Minister has been fair, frank and honest with us today in terms of his own views on the Bill. In terms of the pre-legislative scrutiny process, what is key is that we get this right. There are areas of the Bill about which the Minister has raised concerns. We also have to wait to hear the European Central Bank's opinion on the Bill, although we are required to only note its concerns. Obviously if issues are identified that would lead to a challenge in the future we will need to ensure they are addressed. The committee has already agreed to seek legal opinion on the Bill.

I acknowledge the statement the Minister made at the end of the written part of his contribution. He repeated that he will engage with this in a very honest way to strengthen the Bill if that is the joint committee's desire. The Minister is well aware that in 2015 I published my own Bill which was debated in the House and supported by Fianna Fáil, Independents and a number of other parties at the time. It was voted down by the Government. It sought to do the same thing. Deputy Michael McGrath's Bill has the support of a number of parties without reservation. We need to move on because there is a clear support for the principle. I argue that the principle is not the same as the principle the Minister spoke about on Second Stage. There is clear support in terms of numbers for the principle that enough time has passed and enough effort has been made by the Government to reduce variable interest rates. Acknowledging that some lenders have reduced their rates, now is the time for decisive action and legislation that will empower the Central Bank with an extra set of tools that will allow it to intervene in the market.

The Minister pointed out in his opening statement a number of concerns. This is new. We discussed earlier that this is not the first Opposition Bill that will have passed if this Bill passes, but it is the first time we will have had pre-legislative scrutiny in terms of an Opposition Bill. What role is the Department, through the Minister, going to play in relation to the expertise on the Government side and its resources which are beyond the collective resources of the Opposition to ensure that we do not just point out issues in terms of section 5 or 7 but actually come forward with concrete suggestions based on the fact that the principle of intervening in the market and deeming a market failure is the dominant view at this time? That is why we are in committee.