Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators who made a contribution to the debate this evening. The recurring theme in the contributions of the three Senators who spoke concerned the area of resources. There is a commitment that this body will be adequately resourced. Senator Gavan said there was political failure by successive Governments. I can only speak about the Government of which I am a member and, in the slightly more than 12 months that I have been in office, we have brought this legislation through the various Stages. This Bill has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny, it has been brought through the Dáil and it is now in the Seanad. We have secured a 20% increase in the budget, a 35% increase in the staffing count and we have engaged with the current director, who has put forward what the needs are to deal comprehensively with the workload this new body will have.

We have repeatedly said that we will kept resources under review to ensure that they keep pace with any potential increased workload. I can only answer for what this Government has done. We have lived up to our promise and commitment in the programme for Government in respect of resources and implementation. Hopefully, with the support of Senators next week, we will see the full enactment of this legislation, which will ensure this corporate enforcement authority will be established in January next year. The fact that we are establishing this as an independent body and giving it autonomy means it will be able to hire the expert staff it deems it needs to run this office well. It has already commenced the recruitment of the necessary staff.

A number of people have said that there is a perception that white-collar crime is not taken as seriously as other crime. I have been very strong in my view on this. White-collar crime is just as serious, if not more serious, than other crime. There can be no getting away from that. Unfortunately, white-collar crime has the potential to affect a much wider range of society in terms of the financial irregularities we have experienced in the past. From my perspective, it does not matter whether someone is wearing a tracksuit or a suit, if that person has committed a crime, that individual should feel the full rigours of enforcement. This new body will ensure that that happens.Senator Malcolm Byrne mentioned the membership of the body and what was proposed in that regard. The Tánaiste sought the views of the director on the matter. The assessment, having regard to the authority's proposed scale and initial workload, was that there is no current need for the appointment of additional members to the authority. To appoint up to two additional members at this point would mean it would be a very top-heavy organisation, with a ratio of staff to members of approximately 1:20. We are satisfied that the authority at present has the requisite number of people in place and that the existing ratio of members to staff is proportionate. The legislation provides for the capacity to increase the membership of the commission to three. We will keep that under review and examine it at a later stage.

Senator Malcolm Byrne also raised the exclusion of members of local authorities. This is a standard practice. The appointment as a member is full time and not to a post on a board that will have 12 meetings a year. This is a full-time position. Members of the authority are employees, and they will go through a transparent public appointments process. That should alleviate the Senator's fears in that regard.

Regarding Senator Gavan's point, and I am rarely political about an issue, he said that the perception is that we are trying to withhold the name to protect our friends. That could not be further from the truth. The bottom line is that I addressed this matter on three separate occasions with Deputy O'Reilly. We addressed it during pre-legislative scrutiny, on Second Stage in the Dáil and on Committee Stage in the Dáil, and we backed up the reason and the rationale regarding why we could not accept amendments. It seems to suit a narrative that Sinn Féin wishes to portray me or my party as wanting to protect those involved in white-collar crime. That is not true. If it was true, we would not be prioritising this legislation or bringing it through the House this evening. I refute that allegation.

In saying that, I thank the three Senators who turned up this evening and contributed to the debate. With the support of Members, I look forward to ensuring this important legislation can go through its final Stages next week and that, after a long time promising, we can have an independent corporate enforcement body established that will be well resourced and that can tackle white-collar crime without fear and with conviction.