Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It would certainly be preferable if there was a meeting of minds between the Department and the Central Bank on this question. It would appear at present there is not and there is a difference as to the preference. I myself have been trying to tease this out to gauge the actual difference. The Minister of State has put some detail on the record there.

I am focusing on the key objective from a consumer point of view. If, for example, we had opted for the tier of a licensed credit institution that would be underpinned by European legislation but credit servicing firms, debt management firms and retail credit firms are all subject to domestic regulatory regimes without the underpinning of EU law.

I received this information in a reply in the Dáil some time ago. In all of the above instances, the harmonised powers of the Central Bank contained in the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 will be available to the bank, depending on the circumstances and the Central Bank codes apply in all cases. I went through the codes earlier.

I am somewhat agnostic on it, but it would be better if there was an agreed position between the Central Bank and the Department. That will not be finalised until the autumn. Their comments in response to what is put on the record today would be helpful before we table Report Stage amendments.