Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 3 is similar to amendment No. 4, which I have tabled and which is a variation of the amendment I put forward on Committee Stage. Obviously, the change is in regard to the lengthy discussion in committee where the Minister of State raised the issue of a situation where there was an election and the House was not sitting. That is why the amendment now reflects that it should be the Oireachtas that sanctions or gives approval for such a drawdown of this loan, or the Minister as per Article 28.11.2° of the Constitution, which is the article that refers to Ministers continuing to hold office during an election, when the Dáil has been dissolved.

I do not want to rehash the debate we had on Committee Stage except to say it is an important issue in that it should be for the Oireachtas to give the final sanction on all of these matters.

I understand the logic behind it if the Government wanted pre-approval in the case of an eventuality which the Minister has said he does not envisage arising. There is a pre-approval process. However, the best democratic control over this process would be to refer back to the Oireachtas at all times, where possible. I cannot envisage a scenario where that would not be possible outside the point the Minister of State raised about the Dáil being dissolved and candidates being the middle of an election, a point now dealt with in the amendment.

We need to think of what would have to happen to trigger this section or for it to be invoked. A bank would have to fail or be on the brink of failing for the bail-in mechanism to be triggered. It would then have to go through the waterfall and then we would see the disbursement from the State to the fund of a certain amount of money. The Minister of State has made the point time and again that this would have to happen swiftly, within four days. I cannot see any scenario where the Oireachtas would not be recalled where a bank failed in this country, especially if it required the State to put its hand in its pockets to provide money for the ailing bank. There is no such scenario whatsoever. Given the history and what we have gone through in the past ten years, I do not care where we are, whether we are on holidays or whether it is before New Year's Eve, there is no scenario in my mind whereby Members would sit at home and decide that it is okay and does not really require them to act. Regardless of whether it was to give authority or permission for this provision to be invoked, we would be in the House anyway discussing the matter. Otherwise, we would not be doing our job as legislators. We would not have the best interests of the country at heart if we did not recall the Dáil and Seanad to deal with these matters.

I took on board the points of the Minister of State in respect of the elections, but in respect of all others scenarios I do not think it would be sensible or a factor to be unable to recall the Dáil within four days of a bank needing the support of the taxpayer again. If we could not do that, then we are doing something altogether wrong.

The Minister of State should accept amendment No. 4 for the reasons I have outlined. It does not alter the substance of the Bill. It simply reinforces the democratic control, that is to say, it would rest within the Parliament and the Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. While we are giving pre-approval, it is important that final approval would be given by the same Members with the full information and knowledge of the particular issue at a given point in time.

See this speech in context