Strategic investment bank legislation
Pearse Doherty again seeks publication and a timetable for strategic investment bank legislation. Ruairí Quinn says its structure and design are still being developed and that legislation will take longer, while also undertaking to examine a related enabling measure.
I have asked this question a number of times and I have been promised a note by the Taoiseach. When will the legislation relating to the strategic investment bank be forthcoming? The Strategic Investment Fund is supposed to be a forerunner for legislation but the House has been informed that this legislation relating to the fund will not be coming forward until next year at the earliest, despite it being announced last year. Will the House see legislation relating to the establishment of a strategic investment bank? If so, when will the heads of the Bill be published?
The second question I have on legislation relates to The Gathering. Next year is titled the year of The Gathering. The Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht signalled a year and a half ago that he would release the 1926 census to encourage the diaspora to come home and trace their roots. Legislation is required to release the census and it is late in the day. I still have not received a detailed answer as to when legislation will be forthcoming to allow this census to be released. If this does not happen, the promotion and advertisement of The Gathering will not reach its full potential.
Comment on this
With regard to the second question, I share the Deputy's concern. I imagine it requires short enabling legislation, which basically changes a date in the context of the privacy factor relating to the census. I will look into that because I have a deep interest in it and the Deputy's concerns are legitimate and shared by everybody else in the House.
The legislation relating to the strategic investment bank is taking longer for two reasons. The first relates to the formulation of the structure and design, which is a matter for the Department of Finance and others. The second relates to getting it through the legislative process in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. I will make direct inquiries and write to the Deputy in regard to both matters.