Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

If I could be allowed reply to the debate. A further issue that must be examined in the implementation of this legislation is the promotion of corporate social responsibility. A careful assessment of the risk characteristics and the sustainability of new financial products is another matter which the regulator will have to raise with the credit institutions. We must ensure the highest standards of regulatory compliance and effective standards of corporate governance, which ensure that bank boards take full account of their broader responsibilities to society at large. In a sense that final item completes the point I mentioned at the outset about the need for an effective public interest presence on the boards of these institutions.

All these matters will be examined and worked through in the implementation of this legislation. That is the reason the legislation is formulated in very broad terms. I considered including a specific section in regard to remuneration and excessive payments, and I knew that such a section would have been very attractive in this House in the presentation of the Bill, but I was advised that the powers conferred on me in the Bill are ample in that regard and that definition of a precise objective like that can often diminish the amplitude of the powers one has.

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