Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Far be it for me to decide whether that is a point of order. The Leas Cheann-Comhairle might give a ruling on that. I am answering the questions. Before Deputy Shortall decided whether I had answered them, she should have allowed me to conclude what I was saying because it was really important.

On the basis of what she said, I think Deputy Shortall bemoaned the lack of an independent regulator. Then she asked me a set of questions that are highly detailed and legally sensitive and which only the regulator can answer. Does the Deputy appreciate that I, as Minister for Finance, should not have the information on some of the questions she has put to me? That is why we have a regulator. The Deputy is asking me questions about what happened to money. The Deputy asked me to name people. That is why we have a regulator. It is up to the regulator to do this work. The thrust of Deputy Shortall's questions is, on the surface, serious. However, the questions do not recognise - and I know the Deputy knows this - the fact that many of the questions she put to me sit with the regulator to answer and not with me. If Deputy Shortall wants sensitive legal issues dealt with in a strong independent non-political manner - and I believe she does - then she knows these are questions for the Central Bank to answer and not for me as Minister for Finance.

I believe the Central Bank will be in front of the Oireachtas finance committee. Deputy Shortall will have an opportunity to put questions on some of those matters to the relevant person, although I imagine the Central Bank will be bound by law. I want to emphasise what I said on several occasions in the Dáil and outside it. What happened and what the Central Bank has detailed fall very far short of the standards we clearly expect. That is recognised by what the Central Bank has done.

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