Senator Paul Gavan has called for more scrutiny of the Investment Limited Partnership Bill, which was championed by former Minister of State Michael D’Arcy. 

The provisions of the Bill were largely drawn up while D’Arcy was Minister for State in the Department of Finance, and he spoke in favour of the legislation in the Seanad last Wednesday.

On Sunday night, however, D’Arcy resigned as a Senator and moved into a new position of CEO of the Irish Association of Investment Managers lobby group.

Speaking today, Senator Gavan said: “Pre-legislative scrutiny for this legislation was waived with the consent of Sinn Féin. This was done in good faith.

“Considering the wide remit of this Bill, and the revelation that former Minister D’Arcy will now work for a lobby group that has direct interests in this legislation, further legislative scrutiny is clearly now needed.

“The former Fine Gael minister played a key role in drafting the provisions of this Bill, which will effectively govern a significant area of investment finance. It is a complex and technical Bill, which runs to 90 pages.

“The public really should be given confidence that the laws passed by the Oireachtas are as robust as possible and that all implications, intended or not, are scrutinised.

“Mr D’Arcy is now CEO of the Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM), which is an association that will be directly affected by the Bill.

“Given the events of the past few days, further detailed study of this Bill is necessary. It can only benefit all directly and indirectly concerned, and will benefit our legislative process.”