Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I want to be clear about one point, I am not querying the objective or the purposes of the Bill. The query is a purely legislative one. I am not arguing the case for what the Minister is trying to achieve. I am merely raising questions on the method in which the Minister is doing it. The questions that come up for me are the ones that I raised. AIB, for example, is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange and I presume the issuer referred to by the Minister is the bank. As long as it is listed it is required to conform to the rules of the Stock Exchange and must sign off on that. The Minister is stating that this applies "notwithstanding anything in those rules". That is an issue as I cannot see how the Minister has the authority for this. I am not objecting to the Minister having that authority but I do not know that he could have it.

The next issue may have a very simple answer. What is a multilateral trading facility? The Minister raised the question of shareholders. I cannot recall the term in a building society but I believe such people are called members as opposed to shareholders. Does this issue extend to such people? I will hold my questions on the Minister's points regarding shareholders until we get to section 20. I see the Minister looking at the clock but we will get to that all right. Will the Minister deal with those issues? The amendment simply considers that if these powers are vested in the Minister, there is no need to include the undermining position in subsection (4).