Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 20 is in my name. The Department of Finance had and should have had a role in this issue. After the crisis hit, some people argued that they had seen the bust coming, knew when the boom would end and were worn out telling people the bubble would burst. How come the records showed that these people were all what one could describe as "soft landing merchants". The records were clearly not comprehensive and adequate. People deliberately set out to deceive, yet we hear that everyone was on the right side and the crisis was caused by the sloth, neglect or indolence of someone else. Those who do not have records should receive some sanction in law, rather than by means of a protocol or code of conduct because it is their job to keep records. I agree with Senator Quinn and the Minister on the value of having records. There were massive failures in information systems.

Does the Minister not consider it a bad idea to have a banking system based solely on property? We are trying to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, yet our banking system is obsessed by property. We are not being told anything about the system by the Central Bank, nor do we hear of any concerns about the system in the Department of Finance. While I hope our procedures have improved, I frequently doubt that is the case. I believe we could do the same all over again.

I ask the Minister to consider introducing some form of sanction. We want better records than were revealed in this awful episode which did so much damage to the country. Practices such as moving money into a financial institution at ten minutes before midnight and moving it out again just after midnight to pretend it was lodged in the bank for the entire year or disguising the amount of deposits were condoned. A great deal of deception and corruption was missed.

The Minister used the phrase "light touch regulation" in connection with the banking sector when the term "non-supervision" is more appropriate. In most countries the state is, unfortunately, the lender of last resort in the banking sector. I do not mind how dress hire companies conduct their affairs because if they go broke, someone else will get their business. It is appalling, however, that in banking, which was an unregulated system, the State was the lender of last resort. The purpose of amendment No. 20, which I do not propose to move, was to address this issue. If anything can be done before Report Stage to improve information and record keeping in the banking institutions which we are supposed to be supervising, it would be valuable to the country, even if it comes late in the day.