Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

——it was necessary for the Legislature to respond to the crisis it faced. In so far as that is possible, this Legislature having considered the matter, has given the Minister for Finance enormous authority to build the required legal and financial framework in which this particular amendment and scheme will become visible. There are probably only one or two people who have full knowledge of the scale of what is required to be built here. We do not know how solid, or possibly infirm, are the foundations.

The amendment is the first evidence of the Minister for Finance standing by his word. He said yesterday he would put this amendment to the Seanad and if Members there agreed with it and passed it, he would bring it back to the Dáil today. That has been done. He also said this country is now getting in very deep with the banking system. He followed that by saying he would take on board the comments made by members of the Opposition, particularly Deputy Bruton, on regulatory oversight being part of the scheme that he must present to the House next week. I hope the Minister will also follow through on his other words about public representation on boards, oversight, risk management committees, remuneration packages and so forth.

I would like to think that when the Minister comes back to the House with his scheme on Tuesday or Wednesday, the issue of how the charge to the banks is to be determined and by whom will be part of what he lays before us. The Financial Regulator does not have the wherewithal, in terms of personnel, to do that now. If it is necessary to provide assistance or resources to the regulator to provide the competence in defining the charge and how it is to be applied, I hope that will be done.

The House has placed an enormous amount of trust in the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the people. We do not know the full complexity of the issues. The Department of Finance officials, who were here until the early hours of this morning, are — if they have recovered from the first onslaught of complexity — putting their minds to the proposed scheme and are drafting it. Deputy Quinn will know from his days as Minister for Finance that these people are now putting together the framework of the scheme that is to be laid before us next week. At the same time, in the boardrooms of banks all over Europe, people are meeting to consider the consequences of the legislation that is in its final phases in this House and which is to be signed by the President later, if that be so. As the elected representatives of the people, operating in defence of our economy and banking system, we are not in possession of all the information on the current crisis. In that context, we have to hope the framework we have given the Minister the capacity to build will withstand any charge.

The Minister for Finance received strong bipartisan support in the discussions that took place here. Irrespective of the fact the Labour Party decided to oppose the legislation in the end, very constructive suggestions were made by Members of the House. As this unfolds, I hope the Minister for Finance will take into his confidence either the party leaders or the finance spokespeople of the parties and give them relevant briefings on an ongoing basis so this Parliament is not kept in the dark about what is going on. That is particularly relevant in the context of the scheme to be presented here next week.

I thank all Deputies who made contributions and pay particular tribute to Deputy Richard Bruton for his expertise in this field. We accept this amendment and hope that what has been provided to the Minister for Finance will be sufficiently strong, legally, financially and constitutionally, to withstand any contingency that might arise.

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