The Central Bank's supervisory powers and its administrative sanctions regime, together with the potential for criminal prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions in more serious cases, provide significant powers to regulate any breaches. Furthermore the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011, currently before the Houses of the Oireachtas, provides for the strengthening of the ability of the Central Bank to police, investigate and punish such practices in the future, including providing that the limit of penalties that can be imposed under the administrative sanctions regime will be increased to €10,000,000 per contravention.
In cases of systematic overcharging uncovered by the Central Bank, the Bank works with the financial institution in question to ensure that all customers are refunded the amounts overcharged and ensures that the institution remedies the problems that occurred within its internal business processes. The Central Bank has concluded two cases under its administrative sanctions regime. Details of these cases and the settlement terms can be found on the Central Bank's website www.centralbank.ie.
The Deputy might wish to note that it is not permitted to impose financial penalties under the administrative sanctions regime and, at the same time, bring a criminal prosecution. The administrative sanctions regime is a strong deterrent due to the significantly higher financial penalties available under it.
In view of the availability of the Central Bank's supervisory powers and its administrative sanctions regime, the enhancement of these powers through the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Bill 2011 and the potential for criminal prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions I am satisfied that the legislative framework governing these practices provides the authorities with sufficient powers to regulate any breaches.