Mr. Brian Hayes:

My sense is that the ECB regards the local central banks in the 19 member states of the eurozone as the conduits for consumer protection and it does not want to get involved in what is their responsibility. If one asks that question the ECB will reply that if its mandate and articles are changed it will do that, but that at present it does not have the power to do it. It will be constantly aware of the issues that are going on in the banks but it looks at these issues on a macro prudential basis. Of course, there is a macro prudential basis. If banks are conning people to the tune of €500 million, as we now know on the tracker issue, involving not 8,000 or 9,000 but 35,000 people, I believe it is a macro prudential issue. I have raised that with the ECB in terms of the stability of the Irish banking sector in circumstances where people have been let down. That is an important point and we have to keep raising it. However, the ECB is slow to get involved in what it describes as national competent authorities, NCAs, in this case the Central Bank of Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland is on the board of the ECB and the SSM and the ECB wants to create clear independence between its monetary function and the operation of that monetary policy in Ireland through the Central Bank. I am not defending the ECB. I am simply saying what its reply will be. It will say, "Change our mandate and we will do it, but that is not our mandate".