Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I will conclude on the covered institution remuneration oversight committee. It is important the reporting to the Minister would be done more quickly than the three months mentioned here. We are giving the banks six months to come back to the body.

Where foreign banks are involved, does the scheme only cover the executives employed by the local group company in this country or does it go up the ranks to parent companies, which will often dictate policies for subsidiaries in this country? There is an issue if they are unaffected.

I have not noticed anything in the regulations for sanctions or penalties for both corporate non-compliance with the regulations or individual executive non-compliance, which could lead to cases where the guarantee is called and the indemnity from the bank is not sufficient to meet the guarantee. The State would be left suffering the consequences. Perhaps I have not picked it up but there should be some individual and corporate accountability and responsibility in this regard in the system. This could be pursued through the courts in the event of gross negligence or if the parties do not perform in the way they are obliged to under these regulations.