Dormant Accounts Fund

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 June 2012

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Ceisteanna (144, 145)

Maureen O'Sullivan

Ceist:

145 Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if, further to a Parliamentary Question (details supplied) regarding the Dormant Accounts Fund, he will seek to find a way whereby the Central Bank can be facilitated in publishing some results, anonymised as may be, from the only two inspection reports particular to transfer from participating institutions to the Dormant Accounts Fund to have been completed over the ten years of the existence, under statute, of the Dormant Accounts Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28684/12]

Maureen O'Sullivan

Ceist:

146 Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to a Parliamentary Question (details supplied) regarding the Dormant Accounts Fund, his views on whether it is reasonable that the Central Bank puts readily, and as a matter of course, into the public domain, information from certain of its completed inspection reports and withholds information from the only two inspection reports particular to transfers from participating institutions to the Dormant Accounts Fund to have been completed over the ten years of the existence, under statute, of the Dormant Accounts Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28685/12]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Phil Hogan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 and 146 together.

As previously indicated, the Central Bank, acting on behalf of the Minister for Finance, engaged PwC to carry out inspections of dormant accounts over a two year period. I did not authorise the PwC inspections under the Dormant Accounts legislation and the Central Bank was, in the circumstances, acting on its own authority. I therefore have no role in relation to these reports and the advice provided to my Department by the Central Bank is that it is not permitted to disclose confidential information concerning the banks that it supervises. I must respect the independence of the bank in such matters.