Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Finance the annual cost of financial regulation for each of the past five years; the proportion of the cost of financial regulation borne by regulated entities for each of the past five years; if he will provide a breakdown of the cost and cost coverage of financial regulation by sector for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28957/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (CBFSAI) is governed by the Central Bank Act 1942 (as amended), the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the Treaty of Rome and is not directly responsible to me for the cost of financial regulation. However, the Central Bank Act 1942 requires my approval for an annual statement by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) of proposed income and expenditure specifying the amounts to be raised by levies in respect of financial regulation. Once I have approved it, the statement is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. In addition, the annual report of the IFSRA which shows the outcome of income and expenditure in the previous year is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas each year.

The CBFSAI has advised me that over the last five years some 50 per cent of the total costs of the Financial Regulator have been met by the imposition of levies on the industry. The balance of the total annual costs is provided by the CBFSAI in accordance with Section 33(L) of the Central Bank Act 1942. In 2009, the CBFSAI bore the full cost of certain securities market supervision activities carried out within the Financial Regulator.

The tables set out the total cost of regulation, the total contribution from industry and the contribution from each industry category for each of the last five years.

*This figure takes account of a surplus or deficit in the previous years funding requirement. Any surplus is offset against the next year's figures.

**This figure includes the 100 percent funding levy on the credit institutions for the cost of the government guarantee.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009