Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

It was the Minister who stood up and said this. I am responding to him in all seriousness.

I would like to address the Labour Party's amendment. I will show why it is essential if we are to protect Irish taxpayers. The amendment states:

This Act (other than section 7) shall not come into operation until the Minister has published and laid before each House of the Oireachtas for its approval full particulars of the terms and conditions under section 6(4) including the terms and conditions of any scheme.

The phrase "terms and conditions under section 6(4)" refers to the vast powers being given to the Minister for Finance. We do not want to pry into the detailed business affairs of banks or other financial institutions. We want an outline framework that sets out the parameters of this scheme. People listening to this debate at home — including business people and other taxpayers — want that information. The Minister referred to the skeleton of the structure of the scheme. It may be a skeleton, but we want to see it so we have an idea of its dimension.

The Opposition parties are exercising a profound and important responsibility. This matter goes to the heart of the integrity and maintenance of our financial and banking systems. We are entitled to get more detail, confirmation and explanation from the Minister. It is not enough to say that officials in the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator are working on a scheme. Like Deputies on all sides of the House, I am a member of the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. In recent years, I have been a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. Every time representatives of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator attended meetings of those committees, they told us their systems were perfect.

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