Mr. Gerry Cross:

On the first question around whether the Central Bank should have additional powers equivalent to those of the FCA, it is always instructive and valuable to look to what others are doing and have done and to see their achievements. It is also important to look elsewhere to see where challenges have arisen and things may not always work as well as they should. Ultimately, it is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas to determine the powers of the Central Bank. My sense is that there is something important about being focused and clear in the mandates of an organisation. There is great clarity around the importance of the Central Bank regulating insurance and other financial firms so that they serve customers and the economy. That is very clearly what our focus is. There is nothing inconsistent with that in what the Deputy described. However, we will need to always weigh up whether, if we create more tasks and roles, that would potentially detract from the central focus. That is as much as I would say on that.