I think I made my position clear on the amendment. What I said is that I would have a response before Report Stage. That was not a commitment to confirm, deny or release any documents. I merely stated I would have a response. Everybody in this House knows well that freedom of information, FOI, requests are generally refused if the matter relating to it is part of a deliberative process which has not yet concluded. Here we are taking part in the deliberative process. FOI requests are normally only replied to by issu…

I want to stress that this legislation has been sponsored at all stages by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. In the previous Oireachtas, it was he who liaised with the joint committee and even though the Minister asked for time for legislative scrutiny, it decided not to do so. Only a few weeks ago, on 1 September, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, wrote to the Ceann Comhairle seeking pre-legislative scrutiny. There was an intention to start it in the Dáil but it so happened to start in the Seanad. The Minister wrote: The …

I have no information on that at all.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, is the Minister responsible. There was no delegated authority to anybody else. The Minister for Finance is the person answerable for the legislation. All the correspondence regarding the Bill has been in his name.

Section 6 amends section 5(3) of the 1994 Act by changing "fair market value of the property" to "fair and appropriate value of the property" in order to track the language used in the EU directive on alternative investment fund management and its implementation. It also inserts the umbrella fund concept into the legislation, which is essentially one of the principal aspects of this Bill. The setting up of any investment fund involves significant costs in terms of meeting legal and regulatory requirements, getting …

I have explained what is in section 6 and what is relevant to that section. I am confining my comments to the contents of the section in response to a request for information from Senator Gavan. I am dealing with the sections and the amendments as we go through the legislation which is the appropriate approach in this House. We are dealing with the amendments and sections in front of us and that is what I propose to do.

I have answered the question thoroughly, although the Senator may not be satisfied with the answer. We are dealing with section 6 which deals with umbrella funds. I am dealing with the amendments to and sections of the legislation today and issues that are not part of those amendments or sections are outside the scope of this debate. I am sticking to the legislation that is before us today.

I acknowledge the Senator's contribution on the section. On the face of it, I understand why she would say everything she has just said, but there is more to it than that. As Senator Higgins has said, section 7 amends the 1994 Act to permit a limited partner to participate on boards and committees related to an investment limited partnership. This adds board participation to what might be called a "white list" of activities which, if undertaken by a limited partner, will be deemed not to be taking part in the condu…

I am speaking here as a representative of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who has special responsibility for the OPW. I thank the Senator for raising this matter, and I am pleased to provide an update as best I can. I am advised by the Minister of State's office that, following severe flooding during the winter of 2015-16, Roscommon County Council applied, in 2018, to the OPW for funding under its minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme for a study at this location. Approval and funding …

I thank the Senator for his closing comments. He has highlighted the difficulties in regard to the SAC. The most important concern is the people living in family homes, the farmers and the landowners who are directly affected, as well as the environmental issue. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.

I thank Senator Cummins for raising this issue, which, as he pointed out, is a significant one for many smaller businesses due to the cashflow implications. The EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support that gives a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers to preserve the link between employee and employer and to support the firm's viability insofar as is possible. The design of the EWSS reflects the changing environment around the Covid-19 pandemic which has shifted from crisis mode to one of living alongside th…

I thank the Senator. He hit the nail on the head in everything he said. There is a cash flow implication. It is a good scheme for many people, but for businesses, the cash flow crisis could be fatal. It is important to remember that. While I am not in a position to give a commitment, we will ask Revenue to examine the scheme's operation. Revenue will quickly see the scale of the payments it will make every month or so versus the scale when they were being made on a weekly basis. If some operational measure can be i…

They want to know what they have in the bank account and who they can pay this week. I understand that. Although it does not mean there is a solution, we are fully aware and are examining the matter carefully.

I thank the Deputy. As he will be aware from his recent role in the Department, a whole-of-Government strategy for the development of the international financial services sector up to 2025 was launched in April 2019. The strategy, known as Ireland for Finance, is structured around action measures grouped together under several pillars: operating environment, technology and innovation, talent and communications, and promotion. There are also horizontal priorities - regionalisation, sustainable finance and workplace …

I thank the Deputies. I have not yet met with any of the regional chambers but I will be happy to do so. I thank the Deputies for publicly prompting me, especially in view of the fact that so many jobs in this industry are located in the regions. Today I chaired a meeting with the industry advisory committee, which brings representatives of all the sectors in this area together with relevant senior public servants. That joint group holds a quarterly meeting. We discussed our plans for 2021. As part of that conferen…

I appreciate the constructive and helpful suggestions being made by Deputies as I deal with the insurance, financial services and credit union sectors. I was specifically dealing with this area all day today. The 2021 plan on which we are now working will feature strongly the issue to which the Deputies referred, especially in the context of the regions. One of the issues at which we are looking is the impact of Covid-19. Many people are working from home, accommodation is cheaper and, although there are major issu…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue today. He will know that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I have stated publicly that the insurance industry needs to treat its customers fairly and in line with the Central Bank consumer protection code. The same applies in relation to any practices in pricing that are not fair to its customers. Not only does it have to be fair but it has to be transparent as well. The former Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, has asked what the proposal is for dealing with this matter. …

I understand completely Deputy Sherlock's statement and his impatience about particular actions being taken at this point. I have explained why we are taking this correct route. I would prefer to gather more information and base any legislative proposals on clear facts that we can stand over rather than jumping the fence too soon and not knowing what is on the other side. I understand the Deputy's impatience with the Central Bank and note his remarks that the bank should have been wise to this matter and that it sh…

I thank Senator Doherty for raising this very important issue. It is clear from listening to the Senator that she has immense knowledge on this particular issue and first-hand experience of same. I, too, in my constituency clinic have had employees of Aer Lingus bringing precisely the issues that the Senator has raised. The travel industry was very seriously affected by the Covid-19 situation and continues to be so. Aer Lingus has also been very seriously affected, as has all its staff. The temporary wage subsidy s…

I take on board everything the Senator has said. I hope the Revenue Commissioners and especially the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection are listening. I get what the Senator says about how the scheme was designed. My comments are general comments. I am not saying they are specific to Aer Lingus but I am sure the people in Aer Lingus will be listening closely to what I have to say. There may be confusion on the part of some employers. They may have mistakenly assumed that they cannot claim the TW…