Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
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I thank the speakers for sharing their experiences and strongly speaking about an ethical vision of what the finance industry should be. A few areas struck me. Mr. Butler mentioned the pressure on people to reclassify themselves, to be pressed into inappropriate financial instruments and loan structures that do not match their needs, and the abuse of power. It is striking that only a European legal provision, GDPR, has allowed Mr. Lawlor to have the information about the business record. GDPR is proving useful to prevent blanking of information by institutions. It leads to a question about when contradictory information is intentionally withheld in a legal or court process, with devastating impacts. That should be challenged. There is a question about where those decisions are being made. I will ask Mr. Kavanagh about some of the ideas to have accountability. We need to look at measures for when contradictory information is intentionally withheld by a major actor such as a bank. There need to be ways to re-enter the appeal process when such things emerge.

Mr. Kavanagh mentioned the protected disclosure legislation. This is timely because it is an opportunity for us to try to improve it. I have heard similar stories to what he has told us from people who have had the same experiences, where they are referred to the entity about which they are complaining. It seems to be a matter of going from pillar to post as an attempt is made to shift the responsibility when, in fact, it cannot be shifted. Mr. Kavanagh mentioned what we can do about protected disclosures. The senior executive accountability regime is the other thing that we have been talking about in this committee. Protected disclosures provide protection for those making the disclosures. GDPR requires that decisions can be appealed and that there is transparency in how decisions are made. To ensure accountability for the individuals making decisions, how important is the implementation of the senior executive accountability regime? Does Mr. Kavanagh have suggestions about how that could be strengthened?

I agree with Mr. Kavanagh about cryptocurrency regulation. That is a separate discussion but it is a sign of issues in this area.

Does Mr. Kavanagh think that the anti-corruption unit needs to be separate from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau or could it be reframed to serve that anti-corruption purpose?