Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Mathews made reasonable points about skill sets and resourcing, but this Bill is not about deregulation, which was Deputy Ross's allusion. Rather, the Bill is about asking whether we have the correct structure in place, should we view funds in the same way as stereotypical companies, should we examine what competitor countries are doing or should we stay as we are. This is the debate. In this Bill, I am proposing that we consider installing a new structure, the ICAV.

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked about the Bill's origin, which I have already addressed. A range of stakeholders were involved in the Bill's gestation, including the funds industry, its advisers and the public service, but it was driven by the Department of Finance in close consultation with the Central Bank and my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Deputy Boyd Barrett discussed a range of topics. He would accept that we come at this issue from different ideological points of view. We live in a global economy and funds are already based in this country. Deputies could do worse than to visit some of the funds to speak with the Irish men and women, who are young in many cases, working in that industry. They are not bad people working in a bad industry. They are honest, honourable, well qualified and skilled people from this country.

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