Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At present the FSO is not a drain on Exchequer funding. We are merging two bodies, part of the new body is a drain on Exchequer funding because it is not funded by the industry. If I was taking a case against AIB that was being heard by the FSO and it wanted to hire a consultant it should be allowed to hire as many consultants as it wants because the only people paying are the industry. There should not be a limit on its advice in making a decision. Ministerial approval is not required for something that is not a drain on the Exchequer. There is a legitimate argument that part of this new body is a drain and therefore it could be a pension case but we are creating a catch-all here for cases where external advice would be required and if it is secured it is not a drain on the Exchequer because it is funded through an industry levy. We are not suggesting that the old FSO should run away with itself and start paying huge sums of money to advisers or consultants but this may be overreach in that any type of external advice now requires ministerial approval and that will clog the system. The natural instinct will be for the body to think twice or three times before applying for ministerial approval and wait for that to be sanctioned, instead of deciding to seek a consultant's advice in a complicated case.