Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

To clarify matters for Senator McCarthy, I propose a sos from 2 p.m. to 2.30 p.m at the conclusion of No. 1, so the Harbours (Amendment) Bill will commence at 2.30 p.m.

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole, Alex White, MacSharry, Twomey, Regan, Buttimer, Coghlan, Hannigan, O'Malley, Norris, Kelly and Butler expressed their concerns about the forthcoming regulations and issues concerning the ongoing banking situation. The Taoiseach informed the Dáil this morning that work on the scheme for the guaranteed banking scheme is being carried out by officials from the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator with a view to finalising it as quickly as possible. The board of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland discussed the scheme on Monday evening and it will feed its recommendations into the finalisation of the scheme. It is emphasised that there will be a need for discussions on the draft scheme later this week between the Irish authorities and the European Commission with regard to state aid and competition requirements.

Senators will be aware that the Minister for Finance met the European Commissioner for competition on Monday evening to discuss the Government's approach and contacts are ongoing as the work proceeds. The issues discussed at the meeting between Commissioner Kroes and the Minister for Finance are being factored into the drafting of the scheme. A particular priority in this regard is to ensure the scheme appropriately addresses the issues of subsidiaries of overseas parent companies operating in Ireland with a substantial main street retail presence.

I assure the House that it is a priority to ensure the scheme will be laid before both Houses as soon as possible. The Taoiseach said the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and the Commissioner agreed it was important to take steps to guard against undue distortions of financial flows and the Minister indicated that these concerns would be addressed through the implementing measures currently being drafted which will provide for behavioural and quantitative balance sheet controls. That is the up-to-date position as the Taoiseach has informed the Dáil just a few moments ago. I will update the House daily as we are sitting. Tomorrow morning I will have a further update on the timeframe for the proposed regulations for the Bill.

Senators correctly pointed out their concerns regarding the Morris tribunal report. I will discuss this with party leaders after today's Order of Business to see how we may progress the matter and what we can do concerning this fine report. At the same time, we must see how we can assist public representatives, particularly former Members of this House, who acted decently and honourably in the discharge of their duties.

Senators McCarthy, O'Toole, Mullen and Hannigan sought clarity on the programme for schools building projects. I well remember that when Deputy Noel Dempsey was the Minister for Education and Science he got to terms with this matter. We all had a clear understanding of where schools in our constituencies stood in order of priority. This matter should be revisited and questions asked during Private Members' business this evening.