Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his contribution. Section 33AK prohibits the Central Bank from disclosing confidential information if such disclosure is prohibited by its own treaty, the ESCB statute or the supervisory EU legal Acts. Subject to this prohibition, 33AK provides the disclosure of confidential information, via any system or gateways, so any form of information is covered in the Bill as drafted. The term "information" under section 33AK is not limited by reference to specific categories or sources of such information but is limited by the overarching prohibition contained in these EU legal instruments. The amendment identifies a number of categories and potential sources of information. It is entirely a matter for the joint committee to make the decision on the types of information which it requires from the Central Bank. It is then a matter for the Central Bank to comply with the joint committee's request within the legal framework that applies. The Bill has involved close engagement between my Department and the officials working on the banking inquiry. I am satisfied that the wording used in the Bill meets the requirements of the joint committee. Consequently, I am not accepting the amendment. The issues it raises are already covered in the section.

On the issue of the volume of disclosures, referred to by Senator Hayden, I had a cursory look at the requests that came into the Secretary General of the Department of Finance. On first look or first read, it seems to me that we will be providing well in excess of 1 million pages of documents. I understand that there will be an obligation on committee members before they can draw conclusions, at least to read and consider the information on which they based their conclusions. In the context of the very tight timeline and the fact that the Department of Finance alone is supplying more than 1 million pages, I have a lot of sympathy for the members of the committee in terms of them getting through everything.

I am not disposed to accepting the amendment but I thank Senator Barrett for raising this important issue, that all sources of information or gateways would be available to the committee for examination, whether that be electronic or on paper.