John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Senator Michael D'Arcy can. His farming and economic background allow him to do that.

If one omits the economies of Germany, Italy and France, the sum of €2.8 trillion is equal to the value of all the other economies in the EU. The Irish fund industry is managing a frightening amount of money. When dealing with such a sum it is vital that fund managers operating in this country are given the flexibility that is required to compete in the globalised financial market. Decisions that are made at this time in America will have an impact in Tokyo 12 hours hence and 12 hours later will have an impact on the Dublin Stock Exchange. That is the level of flexibility required to be a real operator or player on the international markets. This legislation provides that flexibility.

It is about reducing costs, which is vital. We regularly complain in this country about the level of red tape faced by all industries and companies. Reform of some of the outmoded practices that have traditionally bound companies to operate in a particular way is probably well overdue. However, I am desperately conscious of what Senator Barrett said about the risk involved here. If it were five or ten years ago and it was claimed that registration authorisation by the Central Bank would solve the problem, we might not be too reassured. However, the new structures that have been put in place and the new regulatory powers given to the Central Bank and the other regulators by this Government go a long way towards addressing a number of those fears.

I referred to the complexity of the Bill. It will be teased out in greater detail on Committee Stage, when there will be far more scrutiny. I look forward to doing that. I do not have any more to say at this point but I look forward to going through the Bill in detail with the Minister and my colleagues on that Stage.