Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

Most Members agree with the thrust of the amendment. In many instances, Departments or Ministers, including former Ministers in the Governments of which my party was part, do not want to be tied down by legislation. Perhaps it is the timeframe of 40 days that the Minister of State finds objectionable in this instance. However, Senators have stated the new Department should be different. Like any other Department, I assume it will report to the Committee of Public Accounts, be open to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General and, importantly, its Secretary General will be the Accounting Officer to the committee, but this will not be enough. No committee can oversee what occurs in a Department of this size.

It is important that there is clarification of the Minister's roles and responsibilities. I appreciate Senator Ivana Bacik's clarification of the State companies to be covered by the Bill, but outlining what they will be is important. As far as the public is concerned, it is fine that responsibility for banking policy will stay in the Department of Finance, but we need to state specifically that, while the State owns institutions such as Anglo Irish Bank, they are not covered by this legislation. That information would be helpful, given that Anglo Irish Bank is a wholly owned State company.

Accepting the amendment and having a report within 40 days would set out the position clearly. This should be a new Department. However, it will not be wholly new, as many of its staff will come from the Department of Finance. I asked the Minister how many from outside the public sector would be employed within the Department.

Part 1 outlines the Acts to be changed by this legislation. While that is a much less important element of the legislation in the context of the Department it is crucially important to set out clearly the functions and responsibilities of this Department. I welcome the proposed website. However, I will give an example of where this did not happen. The current Government broke with protocol of ten years in relation to funding of the jobs initiative, previously termed the jobs budget, when it refused to publish the advice from industry on the levy of 0.6% on private pensions, raising €1.8 billion in taxes, and the negative impact it will have on pension provisions and the pensions sector. That is probably the most significant initiative this Government has taken in its first 100 days. While we welcome many of the initiatives of the jobs initiative we are concerned about the manner in which it is funded. None of the advisory data on that has been published.

It is important, as provided for in Senator Byrne's amendment, that the requirement to do so is tied into the legislation and that this is not left to the whims of Ministers, be they current or future, to do so. I support the amendment.