Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I regret to say that I still do not believe the Government realises the anger among the public at the revelations during the past week in regard to the banks, what went on within them and the cavalier and inappropriate attitude of senior bankers in 2008 and, I suspect, today towards the people and what they have done to rescue the banks. The people will be shocked to learn that the penalty for the most serious form of white collar crime in this country is a fine of €12,000 or six months imprisonment. Irrespective of the banking inquiry, we urgently need to increase these penalties to ensure they act as a deterrent. We need also to introduce as a matter of urgency the offence of reckless trading and banking fraud offences. We need to introduce as a matter of urgency more stringent criteria in respect of accountants who sign off on the books of banks. I call on the Minister for Finance to provide for an urgent review of the accountants who acted as auditors to the reckless banks and who are now acting as auditors to State companies. Immediate action is needed in this area. It is what the people expect.

On a more positive note, I welcome the treaty for visually impaired persons signed and agreed yesterday by 800 to 900 participants with the World Intellectual Property Organisation. This will facilitate the availability of printed material in formatted form, which means people with print disabilities will be able to access a great deal more printed material. Unfortunately, until now, because of the various copyright laws in different jurisdictions, only 5% of the world's printed material was available to blind, visually impaired or people with other print disabilities. Following the successful negotiation of the worldwide treaty yesterday, this will be reversed. I call on the Leader to organise a debate in this House on the ratification of this treaty by the Irish State in due course.