Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am going to be up against the clock. Given that Deputy Mathews had 20 minutes, I ask him to give me a moment. We need to make it clear that it is fine for the Government and the public sector to consult. In my view, it is perfectly appropriate to have consultative forums in place. That is what the Clearing House Group is.

However, it is on the floors of this and the Upper House and in the committee rooms that we make decisions. The Clearing House Group comprises industry stakeholders who meet stakeholders from the public sector and discuss what we need to do to have a robust and competitive financial services sector, but it is us, as the people's elected representatives, who make the decisions. That is the purpose of the legislative process. Let us not try to create conspiracy theories. This legislation has been steered by the Department of Finance in conjunction with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and in close contact with the Central Bank.

A theme of this debate has been that we have much to learn from the regulatory mistakes of the past so as to ensure that they do not recur. I will endeavour to address as many of the issues raised as I can, but I thank the Deputies for their contributions. We had a constructive engagement in which an interesting array of points were made. Some were reasonable and some were not. I am looking forward to a more detailed consideration of the provisions on Committee Stage.

I will begin with some of Deputy Michael McGrath's comments. He declared his support for the legislation, for which I am grateful. He was correct, in that we have been through serious "financial storms" in recent years. The financial services sector is fast moving and, in his words, we all need to raise our game - the Government, the Oireachtas, industry and public bodies. I was appointed by the Taoiseach to be the first Minister of State with responsibility for the financial services sector in almost 20 years because political oversight and leadership was necessary. As such, we are preparing a new, action-based financial services strategy that will be published early next year. I would welcome submissions from Deputies on all sides of the House as to how Ireland should be positioned to ensure that we continue selling our country as a great location for international banking while creating jobs and investment.

Deputy Pearse Doherty raised the question of AGMs not being held under the provisions of this legislation. While directors can decide not to hold an AGM, members holding 10% of shares can demand that one be held. It should also be remembered that the investors will have daily access to the net asset value of the scheme. As such, they are in a different position from the shareholders of trading companies.

The Deputy also stated that we needed further answers about the proposed transfer of some elements of the Companies Registration Office, CRO, to the Central Bank. That is a reasonable proposition and I will happily address it with him and others on Committee Stage.

Deputies Michael McGrath, Boyd Barrett, Ross and Mathews raised concerns about regulation. All Irish collective asset management vehicles, ICAVs, will be subject to regulation by the Central Bank. We have already discussed the various relevant European directives.

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