The normal process when legislation is going through the Houses is being applied. We are going through the deliberative process in respect of this Act and when that is completed the lobbying documents can be sought. All the documents in relation to lobbying on the Finance Bill and the budget, for example, can be made available in due course but not before they have been fully considered. That means consideration by the Oireachtas as well. I have to take issue with the Senator when she says this Bill will damage our…

I hope I can allay the Senator's concerns on the issue. I understand her points. The legislation as drafted is remarkably strong and perhaps, inadvertently, the amendments would substantially weaken the beneficial owner framework and prevent full transparency in the beneficial ownership register. These amendments would allow an incorporated company to enter a date of incorporation or a company number, rather than the date of birth or a PPS number of the beneficial owner. The information which is delivered to the re…

Once they control 25%.

That is correct.

I thank the Senator. While I understand the points she has made, we are concerned, to some extent, with money laundering and, possibly, some other areas. The definition of beneficial ownership in this Bill aligns with the definition in the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. The specific definition of "beneficial owner" in the 2010 Act is a person who: (a) ultimately is entitled to or controls, whether the entitlement or control is direct or indirect, more than a 25 per cent share …

I acknowledge the purpose of the Senator's amendment but the matter is well and truly dealt with and the position is clear. The Central Bank of Ireland is the body that will determine the position where a PPS number is not available and it will require a relevant identifier to its satisfaction. The normal procedure in place requires not just a passport number but actual copies of the passport to verify the individual. There may not be the equivalent of a PPS in several other countries and, in that case, everybody w…

We have come to the kernel of what this legislation is about. To use a phrase that is well known to most people, this legislation does what it says on the tin. The legislation is called the Investment Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the essence of it is to give limited liability to limited partners. If we were to in some way take away a limited liability from a limited partnership, where would the legislation be after that? That is what it says on the tin or on the front cover and this section is cop…

As discussed on earlier Stages, the 1994 Act permitting a limited partner to participate on the board and committees related to an investment limited partnership. Section 7 of the 1994 Act allows that. This adds board participation to the white list of activities that can be undertaken by a limited partner and that will not be deemed as taking part in the conduct of the business and that will, therefore, not result in any loss of liability. The white list concept is common in many areas. The essence of the Senator'…

Investment funds are established for the purpose of investing the pooled funds of investors in assets in accordance with the investment objectives and policies published in the proposed prospectus. A fund is established for a particular purpose and the objectives of that fund are set out in the prospectus. People in normal society are then free to invest in that fund. In the context of investment limited partnerships, the investment fund will be authorised as an investment if it meets the requirements of the Centra…

These amendments relate to the manner in which a majority of the limited partnership shall be calculated by reference to the value of their contributions made to them, at the time being, in the investment limited partnership. The structure of the investment limited partnership is not based on one partner, one vote. It is based on their contribution to the partnership as outlined in the partnership agreement when it was created. What we did say is that the issue of control is separate from the beneficial owner. Thes…

Yes, if such a person controls 25% of the vote in the limited partner. I am not talking about the general partner who runs the whole business but the limited partner. Yes, he or she is a beneficial owner but it does not give him or her control of the general partnership that is solely in the hands of the general partner because such people have limited control, they are limited partners and, as we said already, they can have a participating vote in an advisory capacity, which is certainly not control. They can make…

The only point of clarification is, the voting strength of all the people is determined in the original partnership agreement. That is where it is determined. People can have a majority of shares but the partnership agreement is the one that runs the partnership and they appoint the general partner to do the job on their behalf. So, the partnership agreement decides the voting strength and they sign up to that at the beginning, irrespective of the voting. One could have somebody with a lot of shares but who does no…

I thank the Deputies who contributed to the debate. I will respond, inasmuch as I can, in the short time available. I will make one overall point, which is that one must bear in mind that we are responding to the Covid-19 crisis, the threat of Brexit and the longer-term but not any less urgent issue of climate change and the Finance Bill must necessarily take account of all of these issues. All three are important. All three must be dealt with. The issue that was probably raised most frequently here during the deba…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Data Protection Act 2018 (section 60(6))(Central Bank of Ireland) Regulations 2020, a copy of which was laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 28th October, 2020. I bring this motion before the House today to seek a resolution to agree the draft Data Protection Act 2018 (section 60(6)(Central Bank of Ireland) Regulations 2020, as provided for under section 6(5)(a) of the Data Protection Act 2018. Members may gather already that we are dealing…

I will respond to a couple of the points made. To provide some information, since the 2019 regulations were made, the Central Bank has received 28 subject rights requests. The regulations were applied in five of these responses. In only one case were the regulations invoked to withhold the entirety of the data request. This was a focused request for three or four specific documents and after a robust evaluation of these few documents, the bank was satisfied that the decision to withhold these data would not result …

I accept the Deputy's point. These draft regulations allow the Central Bank to use that exemption. Most importantly, they also contain safeguards to ensure the banks apply the restrictions only where necessary and proportionate to the need to safeguard specified important objectives of the general public interest pursued by the Central Bank. This has been accepted by all sides of the House. They also provide that the individual has a right of complaint to the Data Protection Commission. Section 6(5)(a) of the Act p…

I welcome the opportunity to address these amendments. Interestingly, this is our third debate on Committee Stage. One Senator complained that we were not giving it enough time and said that we should not conclude it today whereas the previous speaker complained about us giving it too much time and asked whether it was a reflection of Government policy that we were spending so much time on this type of legislation rather than other legislation that people might consider more necessary at this time. I have been give…

This amendment relates to the manner in which a majority of limited partners shall be calculated by reference to the value of contributions made by them at the time in the investment limited partnership. The structure of the investment limited partnership is not based on one partner, one vote. That is the essence of this Bill. People can invest different amounts into an investment limited partnership, so the essence of this legislation is that the majority should not be calculated based on one partner, one vote, bu…

I am assured that permission is required from an inspector, a superintendent, chief superintendent or a higher officer in An Garda Síochána to seek the information the Deputy refers to. No sergeant or similar member of the Garda can seek the information. It must be an officer from inspector level up who seeks it. This measure does not apply to all members of An Garda Síochána. To be helpful to Senator Higgins regarding who can have access, the sole purpose of the Garda, the Criminal Assets Bureau and those types of…

The proposed new section 55 of the 1994 Act relates to "Unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information in central register". As the proposed new section 55(1)(a) refers to "a member of the Garda Síochána, not below the rank of inspector, who is engaged in the prevention, detection, investigation or analysis of possible money laundering or terrorist financing", the Bill deals specifically with the issue raised by Senator Burke.