Seanad debates

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages

 

3:00 pm

Photo of Brian Lenihan JnrBrian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The special manager takes the place of the board.

Section 48 is related to the section in question and deals with the issue of public interest directors, on which Senators have had a recent discussion. Section 48 provides that "the directors of a relevant institution shall have a duty to have regard to the matters mentioned in section 4(f)", namely, to facilitate the availability of credit in the State, to protect the State's interest in respect of the guarantees given by the State under the Act of 2008, to protect the interests of taxpayers, to restore confidence in the banking sector, and to align the activities of the relevant institutions with the public interest and the other purposes of this Bill. Those duties will take priority over any other duty of the directors in any instance where there may be conflict. That is a very definite change. It will apply even if no special manager is appointed. The provisions of section 48 are very germane to the discussion we have just had. The position in all the guaranteed institutions will be that the directors' duties in respect of the public interest must take priority over any other duty. If one examines the relevant provisions-----

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