Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

On the jobs protection initiative, regarding which the Government is in discussion with the social partners, no legislation is required at this stage.

The position on NAMA is that work has commenced on the preparation of the legislation. I am glad the Deputy asked about the heads of the Bill. The heads are approved by the Government but not the crucial head on valuation because we are still receiving technical advice on the valuation procedures. When the heads are finalised by the Government, I will consider the Deputy's suggestion. It is my intention to publish the legislation later in July.

On the question on the regulatory structure, legislation will be required to give effect to the various proposals involved. The reason the Government took a decision at this stage was to expedite the recruitment process for a head of financial regulation. Clearly, a job description is required for this role and in this regard the Government has engaged Sir Andrew Large, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, to assist in the recruitment of a new independent regulator of the banking system. It was essential to have a Government decision on the legislative framework. It is not the intention to devalue the consumer function of the new Central Bank of Ireland commission. However, half the staff of the regulatory office were involved over the years on consumer work and this was a distraction from the essential banking stability and supervision work that any regulator must do.

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