Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Before I respond, allow me to offer some context. I do not approach this issue on the basis of political allegiance and nor do I believe that either Deputy Pearse Doherty or any of his colleagues does so. What happened to these victims was wrong. It was unacceptable. As I have said previously, as disturbing as the development of this issue a number of years ago is the more recent difficulty in defining who had been affected by this. The fact that I am before the committee now, talking about figures which have gone from 9,900 in March 2017 to 26,600 by the end of last year, shows the scale of this behaviour. It was wrong.

With that in mind, how are we going to address it? There are three elements to our response. The first is that we need to support the Central Bank in completing its investigation and ensuring the right levels of redress and compensation are paid to those who deserve it. This is the largest investigation of its kind. The way this investigation is carried out and concluded will send clear signals to the banking industry about what will and will not be accepted.

I have requested a report from the Central Bank on the current culture in our banks. I will receive this report later this year and I expect it will contain recommendations of actions that I might need to take to address current issues.

Third, I engaged with the Central Bank on this matter during November and December to see if its view was that additional power was needed. The Central Bank told me it felt it had sufficient powers. I am now aware that it made submissions and public statements, which it is entitled to and I support, saying that further powers may be needed. Once it has made its submission to the Law Reform Commission, and I have engaged with it on this, I will legislate to deliver additional powers as the Central Bank shows me they are needed.