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Senator Mark Daly:     I ask leave of the House to introduce No. 11 on the Order Paper, the NAMA and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Transparency Bill 2011.

An Cathaoirleach:     The Senator must move a formal amendment in order to do that.

Senator Mark Daly:     I will move such an amendment tomorrow because I want to second Senator Cullinane’s amendment to the Order of Business. Is it possible that I might do both now?

An Cathaoirleach:     The Senator may do both.

Senator Mark Daly:     In that event, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that No. 11 on the Order Paper be introduced today. I also wish to second Senator Cullinane’s amendment. The legislation to which I refer relates to a matter we discussed in the House on 29 January last in respect of the lack of transparency in NAMA. In June, the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, voiced his concern with regard to developers buying back their own properties. NAMA put in place a website in July but, unfortunately, it is far from transparent. In recent weeks, a former director of Anglo Irish Bank who lent money to a consortium which bought the Four Seasons Hotel bought that property on behalf of another consortium. These developments are deeply disturbing. There is a lack of transparency in the way NAMA and Anglo Irish Bank are conducting their business and selling loans and property.

An Australian newspaper recently carried an interesting article on how a former worker at the UniCredit Bank Ireland - an Italian financial institution based in Dublin - left his job when his boss asked him to engage in illegal activity. He has said he went to the Financial Regulator to tell him what was going on, but four years later the regulator has still not come to a conclusion on what happened in Unicredit Bank. It truly was the Wild West of banking in the western world.

An Cathaoirleach:     Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?

Senator Mark Daly:     I ask that the Bill listed on the Order Paper be introduced and discussed as soon as possible.

I commend the work of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform in its attempts to get 10,000 visas for Irish people. This does not relate to the undocumented Irish. I met Bruce Morrison and Ciaran Staunton in Washington three weeks ago and we went to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress and Senators to get this done, a task in which we wish them well, as it will not be easy.

An Cathaoirleach:     The Senator is out of time.

Senator Mark Daly:     There is no guarantee that we will succeed, but their work on behalf of Irish citizens seeking to be made legal in America is to be commended by the House. I ask for a debate on the matter in the near future.