Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

In the absence of her knowledge on Sharia finance, I must do the best I can with the amendment. I am thankful she was not present in the House when Deputy Ring was trying to gain advantage for rezoning around Westport.

As I understand the point at issue, there may be a conflict between two systems of law where disputes arise. There does not seem to be a great deal of jurisprudence to guide disputes resolution in these circumstances. This amendment would require the Minister for Finance, within one month of the enactment of this legislation, to make a report on Sharia-compliant finance and on the resolution mechanism to be undertaken in the event of disputes arising. I ask the Minister for Finance to commit, within a reasonable period of enactment, to clarifying this issue in the House. As I understand it, a document was presented on this area of finance to the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service by the Department of Finance. While I am not a member of that committee, I believe this amendment focuses on a narrow point, that is, the issue of dispute resolution.

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