Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the initial phase of the application of SEAR, it will be credit institutions; insurance undertakings; investment firms which underwrite on a firm commitment basis and-or deal on their own account and-or are authorised to hold client moneys and assets; and third country branches of the aforementioned entities. On the entities that could be brought into SEAR in the future, the main ones are the types of companies that are currently excluded, namely, credit unions and parts of the payments sector, as referred to by the Deputy. These will be excluded in the first and probably lengthy phase of the application of this legislation. It will be open to the Central Bank to decide what sectors it wants to include in the future.

The Deputy's second question was about in-house lawyers and whether they will be subject to SEAR. If an in-house lawyer holds a senior executive function, and we have given examples of what they could be - for example, an executive director - then he or she will be subject to this legislation. If, however, such people are outside of the pre-approved control function roles, they will be subject to the conduct standards within the legislation. Again, as we take this legislation through, I am happy to hear the views of colleagues in that regard, but I think the balance as we have it at the moment is right.

As for the issue of people holding multiple directorships, given the level of responsibility they have to hold as non-executive directors in financial institutions, I think the day when people held multiple directorships is now gone. I would certainly be surprised to find somebody who is a non-executive director of multiple companies that could be subject to this legislation because the responsibilities on them now are so great. The Deputy is right that there is a limit on the number of directorships of public companies one person can hold. Would it be possible to put one in place for the private sector? Probably not, I imagine, because of the balance that is there about recognising the rights of individuals. Equally, however, I would be surprised if any director coming within the purview of this legislation were to hold multiple directorships.