I move amendment No. 1:
In page 13, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following new subsection:
"(3) The trading activities of an approved Stock Exchange shall not take place otherwise than in public.".
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Coveney, for coming to the House for this debate. He was also here last week for the Second Stage debate when we recalled that the central function of this Bill is to bring the operation of the Irish Stock Exchange to Ireland. The Irish Stock Exchange looks to London more than to Dublin, although some regulations are now being made here. However, reform must come ex-London. I welcome this Bill because it makes the Central Bank the regulatory authority of the Stock Exchange.
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that the trading activities on the floor of the Stock Exchange take place in public. I do not know if this rule applies now, but I remember going to the Stock Exchange on one occasion and being told that I had to be accompanied by a person from one of its member firms. I did not feel welcomed and it was not indicated to me that public facilities were available to view its important economic function. There is a precedent for this because the old coin exchange on Dame Street was open to the public as is the New York Stock Exchange.
There should be no mystery or surprise about raising capital or trading shares on an open market. Many of these companies are public and have thousands or millions of shareholders. The public own the companies on the Stock Exchange, whether by direct share investment or through pension or mutual funds. There is no reason the public should not be able to view the activities of the Stock Exchange as part of a healthy free enterprise economy. People may not avail of such an opportunity, but there is an onus on members of the Stock Exchange, if they are of the view that it would be dangerous or detrimental to trivialise the activities of the Stock Exchange, to advance that argument and to say why the public should not be allowed to attend.
The Minister may say this is not necessary, but I ask him to consider an amendment to this section if he does not accept the one I have tabled.