Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

In my previous reply to Deputy Kenny on the fees structure I made the point that it is in no way the deterrent some contend it is for the use of Freedom of Information for the purpose of obtaining information. The fees structure is very reasonable in the circumstances, given the nature of the work that is undertaken and the fact that the fee does not even come close to the cost of such information being gathered and collated. In all the circumstances, particularly the full exemption for personal information, the fees structure ensures that presumably, only responsible FOI requests would be pursued rather than people seeking information for the sake of it, putting the system to the trouble of responding only to have it forgotten, with the result that it would not be put to any great public effect.

Regarding the question of the regulatory situation in financial services and banking, all of that is now being considered and reviewed in the European context as well as domestically. We will work with colleagues to examine if the EU-wide regulatory regime is sufficient to meet the new circumstances in which we now find ourselves as a result of the fracture that has taken place in the financial services industry arising from the level of financial innovation that was being conducted, the number of off-balance sheet instruments that were being used and the leveraging of banking assets for the purpose of providing credit, which has led to a crisis of confidence in terms of credit being less available and the banking system being under stress worldwide. Domestically, the Minister for Finance will examine what arrangements he considers should now be proposed to the Government for consideration in respect of new regulatory arrangements that will ensure public confidence can be applied to the oversight and supervision of the financial services industry in Ireland.

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