Mr. Ben Ryan:

We have engaged very regularly with Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland, BPFI, on the creation of the shared fraud database. We support it. We can see the merit in it. We liaise with the federation and the Data Protection Commissioner's office to ensure it is done in a way that protects people’s data. We have had regular, very good and constructive engagement with BPFI over a long period. It is at a stage where there is agreement on the way forward, namely, a new statutory instrument. We have committed to producing that SI, but the reality is the Department of Justice is responsible for a significant percentage of the State’s overall legislative output and there are other competing priorities. It is something we have committed to do, but even in the economic crime area we are working on proceeds of crime legislation and there are new EU instruments coming down the track which will have to be transposed. There are a range of competing priorities even within the narrow field of economic crime and then there is the broader legislative programmes the Department of Justice is committed to. It is difficult to prioritise everything but we are committed to it and we are happy to do it but we just have not reached it yet.