Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an Teachta Ó Cuív. Is reachtaíocht fhíor shuimiúil í seo agus is dóigh liom go bhfuil an ceart aige go bhféadfaí 20 bosca a oscailt gan faic a bheith iontu ach d’fhéadfaí dhá nó trí bhosca a oscailt agus luach dochreidte a bheith iontu ó thaobh staire agus oidhreachta de. Is tuairim an-suimiúil í.

I want to commend Deputy Ó Cuív on a really fascinating Bill. The point he made at the end is very true, which is that several boxes could be opened and there may be nothing of any value in them, but something remarkable could turn up. It is just a mechanism. I want to welcome the fact that the officials from all the Departments seem to be willing. The most useful thing that will happen next is probably the direct engagement to try to tease out the mechanism. The point that was made by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on local museums is well made.

I have a few questions. The first two or three are for Mr. Leahy from the Department of Finance. Perhaps I am misunderstanding something here, but from his statement, I note that his Department currently has a role under moneylaundering legislation in relation to the regulation of safe deposit boxes, etc. How would that differ from the register that is proposed? Is it retrospective or is it from whatever date it had been initiated going forward? Is it simply that it monitors what is coming in and out of this date henceforward and does not necessarily catalogue what is in them? That is one question.

On the issue of cash items - and this might be a stupid question - I assume currencies that were pre-decimalisation and even decimalised punts would be taken at the exchange rate at the point of changeover. Is it the case that they would not be adjusted for inflation or anything like that? Would it be a case of the €1.27 for £1? Is it the case that it would not be adjusted for anything beyond that? Similarly, for the pre-decimalisation currencies, I imagine that would be the case.