Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This legislation aims to improve the accountability - perhaps I should say it will "introduce" accountability - of senior executives in the banking, insurance and wider financial sector and should ultimately protect customers and even the wider economy, which can suffer when the financial sector is left unregulated. This legislation, as has been said, is sorely needed and well overdue.

An individual accountability regime was introduced in Britain in 2016 in the form of the senior managers and certification regime and in Australia in 2017 with the introduction of the banking executive accountability regime. In 2017, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion to the Dáil calling for legislation that would ensure individuals in financial institutions could be held to account. The proposal that provides the basis of this legislation came from the Central Bank four years ago.

All of these reforms were really put in motion by the experience of the global financial crisis. The financial crash in 2008 utterly destroyed public confidence in the financial sector. Indeed, it utterly destroyed this country and we are still paying the price for it in much of what we talk about today in education, health and elsewhere. The staggering lack of accountability of the financial and banking sector was laid bare and trust has not been restored to date.

By comparison, days after the collapse the Icelandic authorities designed a comprehensive policy of accountability based on two overlapping objectives - establishing the truth and punishing those responsible. An independent truth commission was mandated to document the causes of the meltdown and an office of the special prosecutor was established and tasked with thoroughly investigating and prosecuting those who were responsible for any crimes committed. The special prosecutor's office successfully prosecuted 40 bank executives. That is the standard we should be aiming for.

Fundamentally, it should be a question of trust. There should be sufficient Government safeguards and people should be held to account for their actions. The most effective way to manage bad behaviour and reduce bad outcomes is to have real accountability.

The senior executive accountability regime has the potential to delivery greater levels of accountability but much work needs to be done in terms of the detail. It will provide a duty of responsibility. I would be interested to know why the language proposed by the Central Bank, to the effect that executives must take all reasonable steps, has been changed to provide that they must take all steps that are "reasonable in the circumstances". I hope this does not represent an attempt to water down this legislation.

I welcome the management responsibility maps as a mechanism to ensure that senior managers understand what is expected of them and that there are no overlaps or, more importantly, underlaps in who is responsible for what.

The legislation will also introduce a conduct of standards. As the Minister of State said yesterday, the conduct standards are "unremarkable" and "outline the expectations of financial sector executives to act with honesty and integrity, due skill, care and diligence [and] to co-operate with the regulator". However, these are basic standards that have too often not been adhered to. This was all too obvious in the pain and stress suffered by individuals and families during the tracker mortgage scandal. In many cases, the overcharging ran into tens of thousands of euro. In the worst cases, people lost their homes as a direct result of the bank action. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, will remember that when I was a member of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, some of the people who were impacted by the tracker mortgage scandal came before the committee. It was devastating to see the way their lives had been destroyed. That is reflected somewhat in the €680 million compensation and the €270 million in fines, but there were 327 homes lost. The time that was lost by families who suffered and the quality of life that was impacted was devastating across this State. In many cases, the overcharging ran into tens of thousands of euro. In the worst case scenarios, as I said, people lost their homes. It is often blamed on the toxic culture in the banks and financial services sector. I note there is somebody else here to contribute.

I welcome this Bill. I hope it will do what it is intended to do.

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