Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I have to ask a question in the Dáil in about two minutes, I will ask some quick questions and check the Official Report for the answers.

I commend everyone present for their efforts, but I am particularly interested in what Mr. Maye said. He mentioned regulatory capture, but there is also political capture. Are we captured by the Central Bank that tells us what we can and cannot do based on a fear of spooking the market? We heard this during the course of the banking inquiry. Is it preventing us from catering for the market on behalf of the people?

It is great that the delegates are trying to drive this process. Is the Government and the State engaging superficially on the issue? We have had the report and will now have engagement, while there is the promise of another forum. If we were to succeed in providing public banking services based on the Sparkasse or the Kiwi PostBank model, as promised in the programme for Government, would it not require the State to drive it? I find that Departments and the Central Bank use divide and conquer tactics as a mechanism not to move things forward. If CUDA had one view, the credit unions another and Irish Rural Link yet another, even if there was little separating them, the Department and the Central Bank could state they did not know what they wanted and could not, therefore, move things forward. Might it be the case that the delegates are the wrong drivers and that we need the Minister to come here to say he will introduce a model?

In the context of the discussion on the indigenous economy, Sparkassen are only allowed to lend in certain areas and support certain things. They do not lend money to people to buy speedboats but to support the economy and employment in rural areas. As I know the views of credit unions and Irish Rural Link, I ask my questions of Mr. Maye.