Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I, too, support the proposal to recommit the Bill. The substantive amendment tabled by the Minister which we did not have an opportunity to address on Committee Stage is reason enough to recommit. Unfortunately, a previous proposal was rejected.

Much has unfolded since we last discussed this legislation. When I raised a related matter with the Minister on the back of a Private Notice Question earlier today he indicated that I would have an opportunity to address some of my concerns during the course of Report Stage. With all due respect, damn the chance of it. The reality is, we will not have such an opportunity. The Minister of State is not accepting amendments, a common practice of the Department of Finance. Some Ministers accept the wise counsel of Opposition voices. However, that is something which Department of Finance representation in this House has yet to do.

The Minister of State said earlier he is being dropped in at the deep end. I do not accept that. He is a part of this process and we will offer him no escape clauses. Let there be no doubt about what we are speaking of: in excess of 500 mortgage holders have been charged, without their approval, up to €50 per month for mortgage insurance; senior AIB executives have evaded tax by way of special offshore accounts set up by their co-employees in the British Virgin Islands. We know the names of some of the beneficiaries. However, we do not know who devised the financial packages, the apparatus for tax evasion. We do not know who they are. Unless penalties are to apply in such a way as to create a disincentive for employees to co-operate in these practises, they will continue. When I speak of employees, I do not mean the ordinary at the coal face bank employee but those from executive level down, those who devised these scams and who continue to operate them.

I have no doubt as I stand here this evening that all these scams have not been exposed. There is more to be revealed. I have no doubt that is the case. As we speak, people working within the financial services sector continue to perpetuate these practices. The culture continues. I do not believe this legislation, as currently drafted, will be sufficient or adequate to change that culture. Recommitting the Bill will provide us with an opportunity to reconsider it together because, it is only together that we can ensure the passage of legislation that will effectively address such scams and ensure the public has confidence in the financial services sector to succeed and perform its important role.

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