Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

Section 5 (2J) on regulation making powers will only be used on supplementation and consequential and incidental matters. Deputy Penrose raised this issue. It states that the Minister shall make regulations providing for supplementary, consequential and incidental matters, or in respect of subsections 2A or 2F as he considers necessary or expedient. If there is to be any major changes, it would have to be done in primary legislation as well. We can go through that in further detail on Committee Stage.

While interesting comparisons have been made between the company law definition of a connected person and that used in ethics in public office legislation, I am satisfied that the current definition in company law that applies to all companies is appropriate. The relevant provision defines a connected person as the director's spouse, parents, brothers, sisters or children, a person acting in his capacity as a trustee of any trust, the principal beneficiaries of which are the director, his spouse or any of his children, or any body corporate which he controls, or in partnership with that director under the meaning of section 1(1) of the Partnership Act 1890. There is a full detail on the definition of connected persons.

Deputy Penrose made an interesting suggestion that the ODCE include information on the use of the extended power of seizure it in the annual report. We will have a look at this and we will get back to the Deputy on Committee Stage.

Deputy Brady spoke about the financial regulatory matters that fall within the remit of the Minister for Finance. Many Deputies probably used this opportunity to raise the broader issues of corporate governance and confidence in the governance of our financial institutions. This is in an integral part of our economy. The financial services industry alone employs about 25,000 people in the IFSC, and then we have the broader lending and banking institutions. It is very important that there is confidence in corporate governance in those sectors. It is of critical national interest to make sure that there is confidence in governance, because that feeds into the markets and our ability to sell financial services abroad and to encourage companies to locate in Ireland. Equally, it is important to state that we are one of the best countries in the world in the context of corporate governance.

While some Deputies outlined some difficulties, I would not like to comment on them because investigations are ongoing and I would not want to jeopardise anything in that area. The general idea that Ireland has a strong body of legislation to ensure good corporate governance is there. I believe there is a genuinely positive ethic in corporate governance across Ireland. The Minister for Finance will be bringing forward proposals for financial regulation. We will also be bringing forward the companies (consolidation) Bill in the new year. If we are around for that, it will take up a lot of the committee's time.

When we are dealing with these broad issues, it is important that there is a consensus across the House. Deputy Penrose referred to an interesting issue. There was a time when all Second Stage speeches in this House were sent down to the courts so that the judges and the barristers could read and interpret the intention of the House, as opposed to the literal interpretation of legislation. I am not sure if that still happens, but I was once critical of certain aspects of the interpretation of mandatory sentencing of ten years for people convicted of drug dealing. The interpretation elsewhere was not what was intended in this House. I am glad to see that there has been a change to that view. We now have a situation where mandatory sentencing is becoming the norm for people convicted of very serious drug offences. That is another issue, but it is important that the intention of the legislation as passed in this House is taken into account when people are adjudicating, obviously respecting the independence of everybody else named in the Constitution.

We will have a broad ranging discussion about the Bill on Committee Stage. We must make sure that the Bill is very focused. It is primarily a technical Bill, and the broader issue of company legislation will be dealt with in the companies (consolidation) Bill. Hopefully the Bill will have a speedy passage through Committee Stage, even though we do not want to rush it either. If I can accommodate people in any way possible, I will try to do that. I thank the officials in my Department for their hours of work on this particular issue, and everybody else involved in the House.

See this speech in context