Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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91. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has commissioned independent advice to assess if the information being given to him by the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank in relation to the banking sector is accurate and correct; the source of such independent advice if any; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32734/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As regulator for the financial sector, the Central Bank has extensive information gathering powers in statute to ensure its ability to gather, verify and challenge information provided to it by financial firms or otherwise acquired by it through inspections, audits, reports and other means. The capacity of the Central Bank in this respect has been further enhanced under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill, which is expected to be enacted shortly.

A key lesson from the financial crisis is that it is important that key regulatory information is made available to policymakers to ensure that decisions are based on accurate and robust data and analysis. My Department works closely with the Central Bank to ensure that this is the case. I have not commissioned an independent assessment of information provided by the Central Bank to me or my department; that is not to say that the information is accepted at face value without proper scrutiny and, where appropriate, challenge. However, I am not altogether convinced that relying on such third party assessment would address the core of the issue, particularly in light of experience of the financial crisis regarding supposedly objective third party analysis from auditors and credit rating agencies, for example.

Nevertheless a core focus of recent reforms by the Government and the Central Bank itself has been on enhancing the access to information by the Central Bank and its capacity to provide timely and reliable information and analysis to support sound decision making. Central Bank staffing resources have increased significantly in recent years, as has its investment in technology and training, all of which should enhance the quality of information and analysis it is able to provide.