Dr. Jim Stewart:

No, the Chairman is right. They are not regulated by the Central Bank, because it does not have the remit to regulate them. The Central Bank's focus is on the domestic economy and on performing certain functions, at the request of the Government. There seems to be no agency which is responsible for regulating these firms. Revenue regulates them in the sense that they ensure their tax status but it is self-declared. A firm tells Revenue it is a section 110 firm and then it becomes a section 110 firm. It must meet certain requirements, but it is difficult to know to what extent the Revenue checks these requirements out. A firm is supposed to have what I think is €5 million or €10 million when it sets up but, within a period, this can fall away. The problem is that these firms are largely unregulated. One should say that somebody should regulate them and they should be regulated by the Central Bank. However, one would probably have to introduce legislation to require that.