Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

He might have to yet so I thank him in anticipation, if that is all right.

I will make a number of brief comments on this Bill. I have questions to ask the Minister of State. Is í an chéad cheist ná cén fáth go bhfuil an Bille seo ceithre bliana déanach? Why has it taken four years and are we four years behind? I know that the current Minister of State was not in office then but Departments seem to be lagging behind here. The Bill provides for the transposition of outstanding elements of Directive 2014/62/EU on the protection of the euro and other currencies against outstanding counterfeiting. We know that we nearly lost the euro back in 2008 and 2009 and we know the price that we paid in this country, and that our grandchildren, as well as those of the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, will pay for the bailing out of the banks then to the tune of €69 billion. The Taoiseach said recently that we had no bailout. He would appear to have a selective memory loss on this point. It is very important that we do.

I welcome this in ways but in other ways I am worried. How many other items of legislation are waiting out there from the EU with demands, pressure, fines, or whatever way they operate, for us to implement at its behest? Where is the sovereignty of our own Parliament and our own self-determination gone? I was quite young at a time in 1973 but I remember putting up posters and helping out when we joined the EU and we had great hopes for it. We had many benefits from the EU but it now all seems to be payback time. I know that we are net contributors now rather than beneficiaries. The Taoiseach tried to dress up the last deal as a good one but it was a horrible deal.

There are huge areas here for roguery and skulduggery and we should be acting to stop that anyway, on our own terms, without being prodded, nodded and coerced by the EU.

As has been said by others, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. I was party to the Zoom meeting organised yesterday by Teachta Naughten on the young scientist competition. We all miss that competition this year and the innovation and expertise displayed there. It is great to see where those young people can bring us. A question was posed to a young chap from Bandon in west Cork, I think, regarding whether he had been contacted by any of the technology giants and he replied that he had not. Perhaps he did not expect to be or want to be, but at least the ideas exist. We must bring them forward and let the young people show us what they can do.

I am very poor with IT skills and everything else, but this is an area where there are major possibilities online for the undertaking of deceit, deception and downright fraud. Earlier speakers referred to people getting offers online and we know the pressure that is inadvertently putting on local small traders, who cannot compete. There are grants available to help people to go online, but that is a big area.

In his reply, the Minister of State might address the question of how much more legislation there will be and why we are four years déanach in transposing this measure. I reiterate that it is a Wild West situation with banking in this country. I have been dealing with banks since the late 1960s or 1970. I do not have the best of eyesight, but I always hold up the euro notes to see if there is a line running through them. My understanding, however, is that the tellers, or whoever counted the notes when they came into the banks, who signed off on notes that were not legal tender then had to pay those costs from their own pockets. I also have a business and I am an employer, and I could not and would not treat employees like that. We all have breakages and damages and whatever, but we work to do our best and we do not have measures to punish employees. It seems however that the banks can do whatever they like, and can punish the customers 24-7. I will not use the adjective to describe what the banks do to their customers, but it starts with an "s", and it seems that they can also punish their staff.

We also have hard-working people behind counters in shops, fast-food outlets, takeaways or any kind of small businesses facing this situation of counterfeiting, and this is an even worse situation in respect of counterfeiting for businesses that are bigger, such as funeral providers. If counterfeit notes come in, wherever that cash is drawn from, even sometimes from credit unions, then that business is in trouble. Irish businesses deal mainly in good faith. We deal with people on an honest basis. People sometimes get money and do not know that some of the notes are counterfeit. Unsuspectingly, they then pass on those notes. That is a genuine mistake.

However, then there are crimes and people out there committing those crimes. I salute CAB and the different forensics units in An Garda Síochána. I especially salute CAB for undertaking a big operation in the south of my constituency yesterday and freezing €540,000. We cannot have enough CAB operations. In this area, as well, I want to support community policing. Those guards get to know people, and since the onset of Covid-19 we have seen a return to what those guards are best at, namely, going into people's houses and kitchens and helping out the elderly and vulnerable in communities - ní neart go cur le chéile - and getting to know people. That is the way in which it is possible to get to know people and that, in turn, will lead to getting information. It is not about a barracks being open, but about engaging on the ground.

If the Acting Chairman will allow me to digress a small bit - I did ask him earlier for some indulgence - regarding community policing, all those cars are being withdrawn now. The Acting Chairman will have seen this in his constituency in Dublin. It is a big disappointment. This is an important point, and community policing is very important-----

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