Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Will the Minister comment on the problems a couple of years ago in the reinsurance market concerning the financial services sector? We never got information from the Financial Regulator or from the Minister. The problems that arose in Dublin concerning vehicles associated with a number of reinsurance companies were widely publicised, particularly in The Wall Street Journal. That newspaper is widely read by investors, including those investing in Ireland. As regards reputational issues, will the Minister comment on whether his stance is influenced in any way by what happened in the financial services sector then? We in opposition are unclear as to whether regulations were located here which affected these cases. It is a bit like the Ormond Quay situation — it is not clear to what extent, if any, the Irish regulatory authorities, such as the Central Bank or other regulatory agencies, have capacity to make an impact on these affairs. They had major financial implications for the reinsurance companies involved as well as having serious consequences for a number of senior executives associated with those companies, including people who were employed in Ireland. Some of the operations here subsequently closed down. All this happened behind closed doors, however, and it is difficult to have a debate here when we do not have the facts. We are all trying to be positive but nobody ever thought Barings Bank would go under. One day it did so because of weaknesses in financial structures and regulations allied to somebody taking excessive risks. The history of financial markets shows that collapses occur when people take excessive risks and the whole deck of cards comes falling down. Will the Minister comment on that?

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