Vol. 499 No. 5
84 Mr. A. Reynolds asked the Minister for Finance the new role or new project development he is contemplating for the Central Bank in its own right or in joint venture in view of a take-over of its many functions by the new European Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3156/99]
Although the Central Bank's role in relation to monetary policy changed significantly with the commencement of stage three of Economic and Monetary Union on 1 January 1999, it is now a full member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and has assumed all the responsibilities that this implies under the Maastricht Treaty. The bank actively participates in the policy development and operations of the ESCB, which are implemented on a decentralised basis. As a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank, which currently meets twice a month, the governor of the bank is now involved in decision making in respect of the euro system as a whole. The bank is participating fully in the 13 ESCB committees established by the governing council and is also represented on a range ESCB subcommittees, working groups, and taskforces.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has agreed in principle to the establishment of a single regulatory authority for the financial services sector at the earliest date possible and an implementation advisory group has been formed to progress the necessary work. This group will, inter alia, advise the Government on the extent to which, if any, existing regulators, including the Central Bank, would continue to have functions in relation to the regulation of the financial services sector – and the extent to which any alteration to the status quo would impinge on the non-regulatory functions of the bank. The implementation group, which consists of nine members under the chairmanship of Michael McDowell SC, is to report jointly to the Tánaiste and myself by end February 1999.
