Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I do not agree with that position. Hedge funds are not akin to somebody going to Paddy Power. I know one could use this argument in respect of how they are classified. Punting a few hundred euro and punting hundreds of millions of euro into vehicle funds is entirely different. It would not take until lunch time to work out that even if one put a limit on it, all these issues would come into it. George Soros used hedge funds to attack the ERM and the entire financial system over a decade ago. About 20 analyses of this were carried out internationally. This was a regulated end of the market. I have no reason to change my view.

When Deputy Burton asked for my view, I was surprised to see that this vehicle fund of several hundred million euro was not regulated. It would have been in the interest of the individuals involved, regardless of whether they are high rollers, if it was also regulated. Maybe they thought the fact that it was not regulated was a good idea but I think they will change their minds now.

The independent Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, which was established in 1999, has regulated the market here. It has regulated the natural gas market for the past five or six years. Many of these measures came from EU legislation and European decisions and we set it down here by way of legislation. The framework of our legislative policy in which CER functions reflects EU energy policy. All of these areas, by and large, were initiatives and came from EU legislation and directives which we transposed. What we did not do at the time was set up a regulatory and oversight system which is what this measure is doing.

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