Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking this matter, which relates directly to the Department of Finance. In the programme for Government, there is a commitment to develop a public community banking system. There is a well-worn and well-articulated narrative as to what has happened in the banking sector in this country.There are many examples of misbehaviour by the banks in the past. When they got a bailout, they continued to misbehave. Unfortunately, many of them are continuing to misbehave. In Germany, where public and community banking was initiated, up to 70% of banking is done through community and public banks.

When I was in Ennis on Saturday, I spoke to a man who is promoting the concept of public banking along with a number of his colleagues. They have seen at first hand what has happened in the banking sector in this country. As this country enters what we hope will be a period of prosperity, I dread and fear that history will repeat itself. The one thing we should do as a society is learn from the mistakes of the past. There is no doubt that mistakes were made within the banking sector and with the regulation of the banking sector. Serious mistakes were made in the past by the Department of Finance, where the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, is based, and by the Central Bank, which was governing the operation and regulation of the banking sector. We had light-touch regulation in this country for far too long. It did not work. We need to move forward in a spirit of positivity and in an engaging way to do things differently and to avail of the best of what Ireland has to offer. We have the best ICT skills in the world. We have the best financial services brains and they are indigenous and organic to this country. We can be the best in the world at community and public banking. We have the skill set. The Government should make this a cornerstone of its financial policy as it goes forward. I hope the Minister of State agrees with me.