Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the progress of discussions at EU Council meetings on increasing banking regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52235/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware I have responded to a similar question in November 2012. I will therefore limit my response to progress since then. I attended the ECOFIN Council meetings on 13 November and 3 December. At both of these meetings the Cypriot Presidency gave an update on the progress thus far in the negotiations with the European Parliament on the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation (CRD IV). The two proposals set out to amend and replace the existing capital requirement directives by two new legislative instruments: a regulation establishing prudential requirements that institutions need to respect, and a directive governing, amongst other things, access to deposit-taking activities.

Having recently assumed the Presidency of the EU Council Ireland is currently engaged in trilogue and tripartite discussions with the European Parliament and the Commission on both Capital Requirements Dossiers and on the Single Supervisor Mechanism dossier. It would not therefore be appropriate for me comment further at this stage except to state that in its European Presidency Ireland will be doing all it can to conclude work on these dossiers in the coming weeks.