Credit Institutions (Financial Support) (Revocation) Scheme 2025: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-10 ============================================================ Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue. At very different times - he would want that emphasised - we attended the one educational institution and played fairly similar roles there. There is, however, a very big gap in time. In case he interrupts proceedings, I put that on the record. The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 enabled the then Minister for Finance to enact the bank guarantee scheme. The EU Commission approved the bank guarantee scheme as being necessary to remedy the serious economic distress in Ireland. After approval by the Houses of the Oireachtas, it was introduced by way of SI 411 of 2008, the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008, which set out the terms and conditions and had a life of two years. It guaranteed all deposit liabilities, including retail, commercial and institutional liabilities; all covered bonds; senior debt; and subordinated debt. In simple terms, at a critical stage and at a time of great peril, it guaranteed the savings of individuals across the country. That was crucial along with the rest of the things I referred to. It was followed by the eligible liabilities scheme in December 2009, with less extensive cover. In 2013, the Minister announced that the eligible liabilities guarantee would end for new liabilities, so it was being weaned away, as it were. It is important to note that the majority of deposits continue to be guaranteed. This is a critical point. Anyone watching online or on Oireachtas TV needs to be reassured - it should be read into the record - that retail deposits are still guaranteed to a maximum of €100,000 and joint deposits are guaranteed to a maximum of €200,000. There is effectively a guarantee there yet. The guarantee schemes had conditions at the time. They included restructuring of the boards, board representation, commercial conduct and remuneration and reporting. Those restrictions were naturally built into the financial guarantees. These obligations have become redundant as there is no longer any guaranteed liability under the scheme. There is no financial liability and therefore they become redundant. I will be addressing the way they are replaced. In 2022, the Minister entered into deeds of partial release with the credit institutions. It is important to reassure viewers, taxpayers, depositors and all the people of our country that the credit institutions are required to comply with the prudential reporting requirements set out under the EU regulation. That EU regulation, implemented domestically, includes a template for mandatory reporting, which still exists, with resultant transparency obligations which are all codified. I agree with Senator Crowe that they go further than the original regulation. This regulation has been implemented by the Government and of course there is the supervision of the EU regulation. We have the Government's implementation thereof and the Central Bank regulation. As part of the 2022 banking review, pay restructuring was approved. That allowed a variation of €20,000 in individual pay packets and lifted the ceiling on senior executive pay. That engages a lot of discussion but it is important to note that there is a greater demand for staff now in IT. There is the cybersecurity issue, risk management, legal and compliance. The financial institutions including the credit unions are competing with the private sector for a certain pool of people. While the money looks extraordinary to lay people, in that world that kind of money is the norm. It is important also for people to know that in real terms, the State has recovered €2 billion more from the Bank of Ireland than taxpayers were liable for, so there has been a €2 billion win for taxpayers. The money has been retrieved. In essence, the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act and the eligible liabilities guarantee schemes, the inherent regulations there, are redundant now. They have been replaced by EU regulation, by current Central Bank regulation and by Government implementation of the EU regulation. They are obsolete. It is a duplication to have all the sets of parallel regulations. In laypersons' terms, this exercise is a tidying up and an administrative overhaul. It is an acceptance of current and new realities. The financial guarantees were necessary at the time and indeed were supported by all the parties represented in this House. There would have been Armageddon without them. Now there is a new regulatory framework that supersedes anything that went with that. I support the legislation on behalf of Fine Gael. I hope it goes through the House with unanimous support. It is a worthy exercise. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-12-10