Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Bill. I thank and commend Deputy Michael McGrath for proposing it. As he acknowledged last night, the introduction of legislation of this nature has been discussed and mooted for some time. It is fair to say there is widespread political agreement on this issue. The Bill attempts to give the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman a basic and important power, which will enhance its work. I thank Deputy Michael McGrath for his constructive use of Private Members' time tonight and last night.

This debate is a good day's work for the Oireachtas. The Friday sittings of this House are often dismissed and sneered at by the media. I have made the point during those sittings that there is little point in encouraging and requesting Opposition and Government Deputies to propose legislation if it will inevitably be shot down or dismissed. When a good idea is proposed, it should be considered on its merit and not on the basis of the political affiliation of the proposer. That is the role of parliamentary democracy. This is an example of the real reform referred to by Deputy Mattie McGrath. The Government is willing to take up an idea with which it agrees, regardless of the party affiliation of the person proposing it. I thank the Minister, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, for the constructive and positive welcome they have given to the thrust of this Bill and what it sets out to achieve.

Significant work has been undertaken by the Financial Services Ombudsman to make progress with his proposal that he should be given the power to provide information about individual service providers in his biannual reviews. Any ombudsman should be expected to have the right to name and shame. It is an important tool for any ombudsman in protecting the public and ensuring complaints are addressed in a fair, transparent and comprehensive manner. Consumers have every right to expect to be alerted to any potential risk or instance of wrongdoing that is known to a statutory office. This issue boils down to protecting, informing and empowering consumers with the facts before allowing them to make their own decisions about financial services in that context. Now more than ever, Irish taxpayers are yearning for transparency and accountability. Having pumped billions into mechanisms designed to save our banking system, we want to see redress for wrongdoing. People should be named and shamed and held to account.

Deputy Mattie McGrath made an interesting point when he mentioned that the Financial Services Ombudsman originally requested these powers in 2009. He highlighted a point that the Government needs to take on board. When ombudsmen of various hues - the Financial Services Ombudsman, for example, or the Ombudsman for Children - seek powers to aid them in doing their work, why does it take this House and the political system as a whole so long to respond? The Government needs to take that point on board.

I would like, in the context of our discussion on the importance of publicising information relating to financial services and getting it into the public domain, to reiterate a request I have made previously in this House. The National Asset Management Agency, which will dominate many financial transactions in this country for the foreseeable future, should also be subjected to public transparency. This Government did not design the agency - we were critical of its establishment - but we have inherited it. We should not expect financial institutions to be subjected to greater public scrutiny without ensuring the same thing applies to the State vehicle that is involved in property and financial transactions. It is important for as much information as possible to be made available to the citizens of this country, who will be left to pick up any tab that may arise from NAMA.

Fine Gael pursued this matter for quite some time when it was in opposition. It comprised an important part of our election manifesto and it is in our joint programme for Government with the Labour Party. I encourage the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, to make progress with the extension of the freedom of information legislation to NAMA as quickly as possible. Just as we expect individual financial institutions to be subjected to scrutiny, it is important that we extend that same level of scrutiny to agencies that were established by Acts of this House. It would be wholly inappropriate for us to talk the talk if we do not walk the walk when it comes to such agencies.

I welcome this debate and this legislation. I do not share Deputy Pringle's pessimism that this Bill will be shelved or put on the long finger by the Government. Anyone who listened to the contributions of Government speakers like the Minister, Deputy Noonan, knows that will not be the case. I trust that Deputy Michael McGrath accepts the good faith of the Government on this issue. I look forward to seeing the thrust of the provisions of this Bill enacted and benefitting Irish consumers as quickly as possible. We must do everything we can to inform citizens with the facts, good or bad, about various financial institutions. We saw what happened in this State in the past when we failed to do this.

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