I have referred to the Personal Insolvency Bill on a regular basis since the recess. It will be one of the most important Bills to come before the House. More than one in five mortgages are in distress. I am disturbed that the Government is not providing information on how the Bill was designed. Following the publication of the draft heads in January, Simon Carswell of The Irish Times submitted a freedom of information request seeking information on the legislation. When it was refused, he subsequently submitted a new request. Of 63 records in a schedule, the Department refused to release 52 and only two records were released in full and without redaction. According to Mr. Carswell's report, the records that were not released included ten relating to contacts with the Department by the Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Ulster Bank, KBC Bank, Start Mortgages and GE Money, while a further five related to contacts made by the banks' representative body, the Irish Banking Federation. The lobbying campaign by the banks has been intense since the publication of the Bill. We know they sought to have the cap on mortgage debt that may be eligible for write-downs under the Bill lowered. More than a dozen records of meetings were also refused, including those with the Department and correspondence between the Departments of Finance and Justice and Equality and the Central Bank.

There is no doubt that members of the public would benefit from transparency on the Personal Insolvency Bill. If implemented properly and without unreasonable banking interference or the exercise of a veto by the banks, the legislation could mark a significant step forward in resolving the current crisis. Some of the Senators opposite who danced up and down when amendments were made to the Freedom of Information Act by a previous Government have embraced one of the most secretive Governments I have seen in my time. Having listened to the contributions of Senators Michael D'Arcy and John Kelly, I ask that more Senators speak their minds about what is wrong with the current Administration in order that the problems can be corrected.

I am disappointed by yesterday's announcement of 180 job losses in Abbott Nutrition in Sligo. Our thoughts must be with those who will lose their jobs. The announcement was made on the back of good news for the town, including the decision to retain 120 jobs at Stiefel Laboratories. We must ensure employment becomes available to those who will be made redundant. I call on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to ensure everything possible is done by IDA Ireland in Sligo and other relevant organisations to ensure those who lose their jobs in the town are redeployed. I note the redundancies will be voluntary and introduced on a phased basis. We cannot stand over job losses of this nature.

I support Senator Jim Walsh's call for openness and transparency in the drafting of the Personal Insolvency Bill. As I indicated earlier in the week, if the banks drafted legislation on this issue, one would probably not be able to tell the difference between it and the Personal Insolvency Bill. The Government is duty-bound to find out-----

The Senator should speak directly to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Bruton, about the issue.

Please allow Senator Mark Daly to continue, without interruption.

I hope the Minister will be able to provide all correspondence and the minutes of all meetings concerning the Bill. It is unacceptable that the banks are lobbying to ensure the legislation is designed to suit their interests. More important, what changes are they seeking and what changes are being made?

What about the bank guarantee given to the banks? The previous Government misled the country.

We will not have interruptions.

It told us the issue was one of bank liquidity rather than insolvency.

The Senator must respect the Chair.

The Fine Gael Party voted for the bank guarantee.

I look forward to Senator Fidelma Healy Eames informing the House what she has learned from the Government about lobbying by the banks to have the Bill suit their interests. If the legislation suits the banks, it will not suit citizens or those who owe money to the banks. One in five mortgages is in distress and a new group of vulnerable people, namely, the middle class, has emerged. The Minister for Social Protection has made a bizarre call on the banks to offer reasonable mechanisms and help their fellow citizens. The banks will only help themselves. Their directors will do nothing other than make profit in order that they can pay themselves large salaries and bonuses. Calling on the banks to do anything other than make a profit is nothing short of living in cloud-cuckoo-land.

The only way the Minister can help people is to regulate the banks in terms of dealing with those in distress because of arrears and the new vulnerable, namely, people who are struggling to pay their mortgages. They are still paying their mortgages but as we know from the case of the Garda sergeant who had to seek help from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, they barely have enough money to eat. The Government is calling on the banks to make a decision but it is the Government which must make a decision. It must legislate for the banks to act because they will not do anything other than make profit. Expecting anything else from the banks is not living in the real world. In terms of calling on the banks to do something-----

The Senator is way over time.

-----that is someone who believes they are still in opposition and not in government. The Government must do the work.