Mr. John A. Moran:

There are many questions. We have already had a discussion about what is considered to be lobbying and what is considered to be seeking views of stakeholders. As I mentioned, it should not be surprising that we have had such discussions; we have been asked to do so and it is a good idea for us to engage as widely as possible with stakeholders on their views about various measures. Our staff has spent much of the last couple of weeks in the approach to the budget analysing budget submissions made across all sectors of society and not just industry groups. These are taken into account and, where necessary, there are meetings in respect of those submissions.

With regard to the Clearing House Group, Ms Ann Nolan, head of our financial services group, usually attends those meetings, although I have attended some. The purpose of that group is to have a discussion about how to develop an industry sector involving people from different areas. I do not consider it to be that different than when I go to Cork and talk to people about the software sector and what may be done or to Limerick to talk about the agricultural sector. It just happens to be a more formalised structure that has been in existence in the State for a number of years, with representatives of the IDA, regulators, the industry and Departments. They consider what can be done to help make a sector that works well work even better.

The view of the financial transaction tax is very unclear at this stage. Many people forget that at least some views of a financial transaction tax across Europe equate to a small amount charged on sales of shares, and Ireland already has a 1% stamp duty on the transfer of shares. Some European countries have a broader view of what the tax should be and the question becomes whether and how we deal with the tax when the issue and how it might impact on our sector relative to others becomes clearer.