John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will finish, I hope, at 3.15 p.m. I want to ask some short questions of the Minister. Some time ago we held a hearing and listened to the case made by EBS, its tied agents and AIB. The Gallery was full of those tied agents. A number of them have passed away since then, but the issue trundles on. Is there any way the likes of AIB and the issue relating to tied agents, if it were to arise again, including retrospectively in the case of EBS, could be dealt with within this legislation? There is no doubt in my mind, having listened to them and having read the various papers on the issue, that the bank is just not willing to move one way or the other and has the matter tied up in court.