Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply but, to paraphrase St. Augustine, Lord make me pay the levies but not just yet. In 2009, the cost of regulating financial institutions was approximately €69 million. Under the current regulations, this cost is split between the taxpayer and the institutions. The cost of regulation in 2009 was only a fraction of the cost that the State incurred in the financial crisis but while the Minister might argue that mechanisms were put in place to extract payments in return for the guarantee and other facilities, figures released on foot of a freedom of information request by The Irish Times and parliamentary questions I submitted some time ago revealed that the Department of Finance alone has spent €17 million for advice on the banking and financial crisis. Since July 2008, we have also seen an extraordinary number of investigations and stress tests of the banks in the run-up to the guarantee and thereafter. As we know, the most extraordinary case of costs incurred by the taxpayer is the €22 billion which has gone into Anglo Irish Bank so far. At a committee meeting about ten days ago, the chairperson, chief executive and finance officer of the bank as much as told members that while perhaps €2.5 billion of the €22 billion may be utilised in a new, good bank, we can kiss the rest of it goodbye. We are all used to taking it on the chin but €22 billion on the chin is a quite a blow.

The revised Central Bank Reform Bill is meant to sort out matters. Given what we know about the financial and banking crash, one of the principles we adopt should be that the financial institutions, that is, the regulated entities, should bear the cost of their regulation. This cost should not be excessive and should be based on value for money. The regulator should not incur or be encouraged to incur extravagant costs but the banks should bear the cost.

Bearing in mind the way in which the Minister approached the various legislative proposals on banking, it is unlikely that any bank will pay tax for a long period. Not only will they have the State financing their hoped for return to profit, but they will not have to pay any tax on such profits because such are the colossal losses they have incurred that a tax liability will not arise. The Minister has made a small gesture in that banks may pay a minimal tax contribution to cover their blushes, as it were.

Why should banks not pay the cost of regulation? The Minister will argue that in the context of the banks, the €34 million cost taxpayers will directly bear for regulation is neither here nor there. In my constituency, respite services for children with intellectual disabilities are being withdrawn. The families affected by this measure protested outside the Oireachtas yesterday. The amount of money involved, €4.4 million, is not terribly large. A sum of €1 million, €2 million or €3 million would make a significant difference to the many schools which await permanent buildings.

Why is the Fianna Fáil Party unerringly pro-banker? Why do the banks not pay for the cost of regulation? In the scheme of things, €34 million does not even amount to a hiccup for the banks. While it is barely a dot on the horizon for them, it is a meaningful amount for ordinary taxpayers. Such a sum may not have had much significance in the Celtic tiger era but as we learn to adjust to our new economic realities €34.5 million acquires a great deal of budgetary significance. I ask the Minister of State to think again in this matter because I am not sure a budgetary saving of €34.5 million would be sniffed at in his constituency of County Clare. If he realised that this sum could be easily available and were to agree to do so, we could share it between County Clare and Dublin West.

I strongly recommend the Labour Party amendment. There is value in sending out a signal to the financial institutions that it is not business as usual. Citizens and taxpayers have been burdened with intergenerational debt to remove the burden from the shoulders of the financial institutions, specifically the covered institutions. Setting this matter right by telling the banks they must pay the full cost of regulation from now on would be make a good start in sending out the necessary signal.

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