Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I am doing my best to respond to the points made by various Deputies and to speak on the seven amendments that are the subject of this particular part of the debate. I did not interrupt any of the speakers from the other side and everybody who wished to make a contribution was able to do so, which is the way we ought to do business.

It seems that Deputy Burton's amendment seeks to provide for the establishment of a credit union consultative panel and she sets out in considerable detail the structure, form and arrangements involved. Even though I disagree quite strongly with elements of it, I commend her for the amount of work that went into it. On issues such as this, people in this House often make off the cuff remarks that are entirely ill-considered and do not address the specific element of the Bill under consideration. I want to acknowledge that Deputy Burton's amendment does that, notwithstanding the fact that I disagree with elements of it.

The Deputy's amendment seeks to impose on the bank a legal obligation to consult the proposed panel before making or issuing a policy document or a regulatory document, except in urgent circumstances.

My concern is that the amendment seeks to reverse the clear intention in the legislation to dissolve the two existing consultative panels. That is key to the difficulty I have with amendment No. 10. It is important to bear in mind that dissolving the panels will establish unequivocally the separation of the bank's governance and accountability structures and the organisation and operational independence of the bank from the regulated providers of financial services.

While I agree with the points made by many Members on, as Deputy Ó Caoláin said, the social aspect of the services provided by the credit union movement, in circumstances where this legislation seeks to address the enormous difficulties outlined by several speakers last night, today and on Second and Committee Stages, it would be folly to undermine the central tenet of what it is setting about, which is to dismantle the existing panels and their effect.

Deputy Burton's amendment would seem to compromise the bank's integrity by making the regulatory functions of the bank in respect of credit unions subservient and accountable to a panel representing the interests of the regulated entities. In many respects, the Regling and Watson report and Professor Honohan's report point to the difficulties that arose in the banking sector when this exact provision was in place. The Deputy's amendment flies in the face of the conclusions of those reports. I know that Deputy Burton would draw a very clear distinction between the role, size and make-up of the credit unions and the other elements of the banking sector but in this legislation it is important we address the entirety of what has caused the difficulty.

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