Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

I have no evidence that would lead me to believe the UK is somehow being used to avoid the EU sanctions regime. That is principally because there is a lot of co-ordination between all the authorities that are imposing sanctions here. Obviously, that is today's view based on today's evidence.

Deputy Farrell probably conflated shadow banking and SPEs a bit too much. Shadow banking is really the market-based finance sector generally, and Ireland is one of the biggest in the world. These are not all section 110 companies. I have been talking publicly for some time now about the fact that market-based finance needs the sort of oversight the banking industry has had since the financial crisis. In particular, the macroprudential framework we imposed in the banking world should also apply in the non-bank world. That is something that now has the attention of the Financial Stability Board of regulators across the world. That is an area that is getting attention.

Section 110 companies exist for a particular purpose. I have no view as to whether there should be a cost-benefit analysis of that provision. It is not Central Bank legislation. If somebody wants to do a cost-benefit analysis, they can go ahead and do it.