Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I again welcome the debate. I again thank Deputy Ó Cuív for bringing the Bill forward and for tonight's discussion. It is the start of a much more detailed and interesting discussion where we will get to pull it apart a little more on Committee Stage.

As I said, this is a very complicated area cutting across at least three Departments, including the Departments of Finance and Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and my Department.

The provisions concern a large number of agencies, including the Central Bank, the National Treasury Management Agency, the National Museum of Ireland and the Property Registration Authority, each with specific and significant roles that could add considerably to their work. The provisions also place significant responsibility on the financial institutions in developing the register, seeking to notify rightful owners, inspecting unclaimed safe deposit boxes, cataloguing property and ultimately seeking to dispose of items in a manner that is consistent with obtaining the best reasonable price.

I recognise this is an issue that has been raised over a number of years and which has not yet been addressed. Going forward further consideration and consultation is needed around how the key objective of the proposed Bill can best be achieved, as regards fully understanding and addressing any possible legal issues and minimising costs to achieve the objectives in as effective a way as possible.

Finally, I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for the significant work that has gone into the Bill. I welcome the opportunity we have had this evening to discuss the issue so as to better understand how we can address the challenge of unclaimed property in safe deposit boxes going forward. I want to end on a up-beat note by thanking the Deputy for being creative and imaginative. It will be a windy road to find a path through this because of the number of agencies and Departments involved, but the treasure at the end of it will be worth the wait and effort.

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