Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators Coghlan, White, Quinn, Leyden, McDowell and Mansergh for their very useful contributions on a technical, complicated Bill which makes provisions in a number of different areas of company and consumer law. A number of interesting points have been raised and I will address as many of them as possible.

Our regulatory environment is a key component of our competitiveness and international reputation. The financial services sector is one of the most innovative, and rapidly evolving and new products are constantly brought forward at the cutting edge of a most exciting business. All of these products aim to find a new way to package risk. It is a sector which is increasingly technologically-enabled, and which draws upon new skills from specialist areas such as mathematics and economics. It is also highly mobile. Our competitors can catch up fast. New financial centres are emerging across all time zones in the new globalised economy. It is truly a global service. We in Ireland have to be up there with the best of them and, if at all possible, be ahead of the game.

However, at all times we must be sure we strike the correct balance between innovation, supervision and protection. If we get it wrong and introduce draconian requirements, the funds industry will move elsewhere. If the regulatory regime is too light or lax, we run the risk of facilitating the rip-off of investors. Not only that, but our reputation as a well-regulated jurisdiction would suffer irreparable damage. We are satisfied that the balance in the Bill is the correct one.

I intend to move some amendments on Committee Stage. The first is to the Competition Act 2002 and concerns the retention of evidence gathered during investigations. The purpose of the amendment is to remove operational difficulties experienced by the Competition Authority in regard to the current provisions. The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is also experiencing problems with a similar provision in the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001 and I propose to move an amendment to resolve this. My Department is working on some amendments relating to the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts in connection with financial limits in co-operative societies.

Senator Coghlan referred to the director's compliance statement and to my earlier comments on this measure. I confirm what I stated, that I would expect to be in a position to finalise my deliberations on this matter over the coming week or so and to announce what action we will take on it.