Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The McDowell group recommended that funding for the operation of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority should come from the industry. That was a core recommendation of the group. Levies to fund the regulatory authority will be prescribed by the chief executive with the agreement of the other members of the authority and by way of regulation. This will only be done after a detailed consultation process. Any regulations made by the chief executive must, in turn, be approved by the Minister for Finance who must lay them before each House of the Oireachtas. In addition, the budget of the regulatory authority which the levies will finance will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas having been approved by the Minister.

The estimate of annual income and expenditure must specify the amounts expected to be collected and recovered during the financial year concerned from the imposition of the levies under section 33J; any other sources from which the funds are expected to be obtained during the year to finance the regulatory authority's activities and the amounts expected to be raised from these sources; and the activities that the authority proposes to undertake during the year. There is a great deal of specificity written into the Bill.

The McDowell group emphasised the importance of adopting an approach which achieved a fair and equitable outcome. The approach, as set out above, is considered the best to achieve that aim. It is preferable to that suggested by the Senator. The issuing of a statement, as the Senator proposes, would not achieve a desirable level of active consultation. This procedure, in addition to other accountability provisions elsewhere in the Bill, will ensure the chief executive of the regulatory authority is accountable to the Minister and the Houses of the Oireachtas in relation to the justification for the levies.