Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to take up the theme of democratisation in welcoming the Bill which represents some progress on that front. When one considers how slow any democratisation of the United Nations Security Council is, one must be thankful for signs of it within the IMF. I have been following the United Nations Security Council's debate on reform for many years. It is not unlike the debate on Seanad reform; there are many words but not much activity on the ground. One of the better ideas which attracts me, even though it probably breaches the notion of the United Nations, is that of regional representation within the Security Council, which would provide a voice that, in particular, Africa ought to have.

I welcome the small progress the Bill represents in providing a more meaningful voice, particularly to southern countries. However, some of the commentary suggests the changes are minuscule in terms of many of the less developed nations and much more needs to be done. This small step forward ought to be afforded the support of the Chamber.

I note the view of the Debt and Development Coalition that a double majority voting system which would require the achievement of two separate majorities, one based on one country, one vote, the other on economically weighted quotas, would give much more equity to the decision making processes within the IMF. It would increase the influence of southern countries in decision making and allow them to build coalitions with nations that have similar challenges and problems in their path towards sustainable development. I echo another point made by the Debt and Development Coalition, namely, this increased dialogue would generate among members a better prospect of building consensus and would lead to a more equitable set of parameters within which global trade happens, as alluded to by Senator O'Toole. There are gross assymmetries between nations in trading arrangements to the point of naked protectionism on the part of the more powerful partner in the asymmetric trading relationship.

I refer to gold sales where windfall profits will be used primarily for internal IMF purposes. The point has been made by those watching the passage of this Bill that this amount, which may be up to $2.5 billion, could be used as a matter of urgency by southern countries in need of appropriate supports.

In general, the IMF has demonstrated an improved competence but, as the Minister of State mentioned, the 1980s version may be fixed in the minds of many of us. I certainly studied these matters back in the day and saw the IMF as an agency that made at least as many inappropriate and economically and culturally insensitive decisions as it did good ones. However, I accept that as an organisation it has moved on a long way from those times. It is still the case that a stronger voice for less developed nations would lead to a better decision making process for the vast swathe of the global population which is currently under-represented in the way the IMF reaches its conclusions.

The Minister of State highlighted the merits and small advances made. I recognise these and therefore welcome the Bill and shall support it.