Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was often in the House to hear him speak when he led from the benches where Senator Cullinane is now sitting. He did so ably and well in the term when I was there. I am glad to have him back in his current capacity. I have read the speech of the Minister of State and I am sorry I was not in the Chamber. There are too many things going on simultaneously.

I welcome the Bill, which is extensive, complex and detailed. Worthwhile effort was made at ministerial level. Senator Cullinane referred to the willingness displayed in the other House to accept amendments. We all realise the appalling mess we inherited because supervision and regulation were non-existent. The cosy culture relationship that existed between the Central Bank, the banks and the people asleep at the wheel was shocking. It will take years to recover from this. The Bill attempts to lay down proper impositions and supervisory compliance and regulation. For those reasons, in common with other speakers, I welcome the Bill.

I also welcome the provisions for reviewers of each financial institutions. I also welcome the guarding against conflicts of interests. We will have the opportunity on Committee Stage to comment on matters in more detail. It is sad to say that we need protection for whistleblowers. There is something of an anathema in the Irish culture towards whistleblowers. Sadly, these measures are necessary as we see from instances that have been highlighted in the not too distant past. It was necessary for someone to blow the whistle because of what happened.

Hopefully, it will be less necessary in the future but I welcome the powers in the Bill in this regard.

There are competition problems in banking and there will continue to be so. The Irish banking market is so small, particularly now, that foreign-owned banks operating here may wish to be out of the market. Hopefully, we will manage, either through coaxing, cajoling or whatever is required, to keep some of them here. I welcome what Mr. Duffy and others have achieved in AIB. State ownership of that bank will continue for a long time while it is downsizing. I am glad that in the other pillar bank, Bank of Ireland, the State’s equity stake is now only 15%. Hopefully, within 12 months that will have been wiped out and the State will have received a proper and worthwhile return in regard to its necessary investment in that bank. Those investments were necessary because one cannot have a functioning economy without a banking system. No matter how we criticise ourselves, it was necessary to keep these two pillar banks.

The head of the Credit Review Office, John Trethowan, recently called for the threshold for appeals to be increased, a call with which I agree as the current threshold is inadequate. There are many stable indigenous small and medium-sized businesses whose credit requirements are not being met by the pillar banks. These businesses need assistance in accessing credit, particularly seasonal credit. I know of these problems coming from Kerry, the heart of Irish tourism. I hope the Minister will review the threshold for appeals with a view to extending it.

There is no point in going back on the past but the banks effectively did as they liked which turned into a herd culture. We have read so many books, articles and reports on the banking crisis. The Minister referred to the reports by Professor Patrick Honohan, Klaus Regling, Max Watson, the Nyberg commission and the Moriarty tribunal which pointed out the problems we had. Maybe we will have the proposed Oireachtas banking inquiry. If we get some further benefit from it, I would welcome it too. I believe it is necessary to have such an inquiry to make a clean breast of matters. It is important it has proper terms of reference and the sooner it is dealt with, the better.

I look forward to dealing with detailed amendments on Committee Stage.