Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

I congratulate the Minister on his swift decision to introduce long overdue legislation in this area. It is refreshing that even though this legislation is unnecessarily inadequate in its scope because the Minister has just taken up his position, it is welcome that he is attacking this problem. I temper that by pointing to areas, which it does not but should address and which I would like him to address in his reply.

The first is insider dealing on the Stock Exchange. I was a Member in 1991 when legislation to tackle insider trading was introduced in the Seanad. Insider dealing on the Stock Exchange was recognised as a major problem. I was a member of the Stock Exchange at the time and a bad joke used to go around that there was no problem with insider dealing on the stock market because it was all insider dealing. That was true to some extent. It is difficult in Ireland because of the incestuous nature of the financial sector to stop any of that activity but once the legislation was introduced, people realised this was not a victimless crime. It was one we felt the necessity to legislate for because such activities were going on.

The problem now is there has not been a single conviction for insider dealing under that legislation, which has been on the Statute Book for 17 or 18 years. It is extraordinary that there has only been one prosecution and no conviction. It tells us that either nobody is engaged in this activity, which nobody believes, or the weapons or evidence to prove it is going on are not available. That says a great deal about the incestuous nature of the financial sector in Ireland.

Everybody will be familiar with the DIRT debacle, which the Committee of Public Accounts played such a great role in exposing. At the end of that episode, it was acknowledged that tax evasion was rife and almost endemic in society. Those who were accused of tax evasion by the DIRT inquiry were rightly prosecuted, shamed and fined because they had broken the law, but nothing happened to the bankers and financial institutions that had encouraged them to do so. AIB was fined £30 million and no individual in the financial services sector was fined, yet it was acknowledged by the DIRT inquiry and everybody else that the bankers and individuals in branches were responsible. However, the banks' small shareholders paid the price because the banks were fined but the bankers were not. White collar crime in this instance went absolutely unpunished while the individuals who should have been punished were not. It was an unequal and unfair world.

Deputy Healy eloquently raised the issue of whistleblower legislation. Will the Minister consider introducing a system of community service for white collar crime?

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