Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this section and the approach that is being taken. It fits with what Sinn Féin has been arguing for quite some time, that is, that we need to move from relying on administrative sanctions alone. Those days are gone. Good riddance to them. This section chimes with what Deputy Doherty's legislation identified. I refer to the lacuna or loophole that had been acknowledged by the Central Bank whereby bankers, insurers and others who lie or give false information to the Central Bank, cannot be jailed under current rules. There have been some media reports recently that suggested the Government is considering its own legislation on this issue and on broader white-collar crime issues. Can the Minister of State offer us some information on that at this point in time?

The use of criminal sanctions and jail time for white-collar criminals is where we need to be going in policy terms. That means a focus on individual responsibility. That is something the Central Bank has pointed to in its submission on white-collar crime.

Could the Minister of State outline how the maximum penalties, of ten years' imprisonment and a fine of €10 million, were arrived at?