John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For 250 years, or two and a half centuries if we go back to the earliest deposit box referred to by Deputy Ó Cuív, these boxes have lain undiscovered, unmoved and untouched, by and large, possibly along with other items, including works of art, maps, documents or larger items. The Bill proposes, in a very sensitive, legitimate and legally safeguarded way, to enable this generation to go back not earlier than 80 years to open them to see what they hold.

Every so often, to echo what the Chair said, someone has a brainstorm in this House and comes up with particularly creative and innovative legislation that will surely catch the imagination of the public. This is one such Bill, which the Chair gestured to. To set a child's imagination at work on this, never mind the imagination of an adult, an awful lot of fun could be had with the topic, but it is very serious. Why would someone have a safe deposit box in the first place? Why would people put items in a vault or a secure place? In earlier centuries, it might have made sense. When I was only a few years younger than I am now, I discovered that in Dublin there are one or two quite elaborate private vault- and safe deposit box-holding companies, which I did not realise or appreciate existed.

One of the other items of real interest is why these boxes remained untouched, unopened, and largely forgotten about, particularly the earlier ones. Was it because of debt or secrecy that only the holder of the box or items knew they were safeguarding them and did not pass on the information, either to family members or friends, that they held what we assume to be valuables? Certainly, if we go back to more recent times, a little more than 80 years or the past 100 years, why would people put these items away if they were not valuable? They could have been valuable as a treasured item, holding particular memorial or treasured value, having some cash value, or an item, such as deeds, that needed to be protected in a safe place where they were out of harm's way.

I hope there are some writers and creative-minded people out there who are observing this, who will now set their minds to work and will watch every little piece of this story unfold. This is chapter one. It is a little like the man in the ice. Obviously, that was much more profound historically as regards where the beginning of humanity can be dated to but Deputy Ó Cuív put it very well. Each of these deposit boxes and each of the items preserved or kept is a time capsule of its own, with a story of its own and possibly identifying details of its own, so that we get a picture of people never mind the items they held on to. That is without reflecting for very long on what is proposed in the Bill. I would be interested to know whether this has been attempted in any other jurisdiction and what the outcomes were. I am not familiar with that but Deputy Ó Cuív will be. The officials who assisted him in researching and drafting the Bill have probably come across it at this stage but perhaps it is a first. If it is, that only adds to the significance of the legislation he has brought before us for consideration.

Of course, if we spend a little more time thinking of the possibilities of the Bill, great sensitivity is required because who knows what these boxes contain and what secrets they might hold? The holder of those secrets might never have intended that they be discovered and opened by strangers. That kind of sensitivity is required too. What I like about the Bill and how the Deputy has outlined it is that all those safeguarding elements have been carefully considered. Knowing the Deputy as I do, he will be open to any intelligent amendments or suggestions as the Bill passes through Committee Stage and both Houses for consideration.

For most of us, our experience of safe deposit boxes probably originated in James Bond movies as the preserve of the rich and very secretive. I wonder whether there will be gold bars. Will we find any gold ingots in any of these boxes? As the Deputy said, they will provide a window, at the very least, into so many different aspects of life and what people considered worth stowing away in secure places and why, the kind of people who did it, the kind of things that were stowed away and saved, and the multiple reasons they remained there. We all forget things sometimes.

The Minister of State used a word of caution at the end of his contribution. I welcome the support of the Government for this and encourage it, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something quite profound in respect of a nation's history and its individual stories. It is going back two and a half centuries and opening up countless time capsules and windows into the past. I urge the Government, while respecting and having regard to the boundaries of the public purse, that every effort be made to facilitate this. I am sure the financial institutions concerned will be more than willing to assist. This will reflect well. We will have to wait and see what comes out of it but, potentially, it will reflect very well. I am sure there will be big surprises and shocks too. There may be things we did not think were held in these places and did not want to know were held there. Undoubtedly, shocking discoveries that may affront the public may be counted among those things that have been spirited away into secure boxes over the centuries.

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to make a contribution on this, the Minister of State for his presence and Deputy Ó Cuív for inspired legislation, which is no surprise coming from him. The fact is he had the idea, developed the concept and has brought it very close to fruition. It is now up to both Houses to ensure it is brought to fruition. I wish the Deputy the very best with it.

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