Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Will the detail of the quarterly oversight reports to be completed by the regulator be published and will they be subject to oversight by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service? In regard to parliamentary oversight generally, it is a nonsense to suggest, taking account of how quickly developments have taken place in the financial situation, that we should have a debate only every six months. In the last three weeks alone, we have seen a dramatic change that nobody could have predicted. To talk about a six-month reporting period, when presumably the Minister will come before the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, seems totally inadequate.

Many speakers have asked about the role of the non-executive directors and observers on risk assessment boards and credit committees within banks. Is it consistent that while the State does not propose to purchase an equity stake in the banks, the Minister will have the power to determine salaries and bonuses and to link them to adjustments in guarantee charges and measurable actions to address excessive risk? The Minister is rightly determining the salaries, bonuses and pension entitlements of senior executives within the relevant financial institutions, but at the same time he is saying he cannot appoint anybody to the board to look after the State's interest. Is that not inconsistent with company law? Even though the State is not taking an equity stake in the financial institutions in question, the Minister lays claim to an entitlement to determine the salaries and bonuses of executives. Will the Minister clarify that contradiction?

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