FINE GAEL finance spokesman Richard Bruton strongly criticised foreign trips by the spouses of Central Bank employees at the State’s expense.

The Comptroller Auditor General revealed this week that the bank funded 52 trips involving spouses over a two-year period.

Mr Bruton said: “Where is the compass of propriety in respect of the spending of public money when it is seen fit for so many employees to have their spouses’ travel expenses paid for by the taxpayer under the pretence of exceptional circumstances?’’

He said they had reassurance from the Government that those practices would be stopped immediately.

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said her party had legal advice that the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, did not have the power to delegate banking functions to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

“The latter is effectively a secret organisation that is not open to any public scrutiny, and is exempt from freedom of information legislation in the same way that the Central Bank staff, who provided their spouses with hundreds of trips abroad, are exempt from those provisions.’’

Ms Burton asked if people must now live with secret government. “At least the Department of Finance, despite its many failings, has to answer to this House through the Minister.’’

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said there were two Central Bank Bills listed in the Government’s legislative programme.

“When will the Government afford us the opportunity to address the disastrous failures of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator?’’

Mr Ó Caoláin said for most members of the public “it is difficult to accept that the Central Bank should have a regulatory role in view of the exposure of the fact that it cannot even regulate its own business, but instead accommodated excessive overseas travel by executives and their spouses’’.

Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, who was taking the Order of Business, said it was anticipated that the first of the Central Bank Bills would come before the House by Easter. “It will be a relatively short Bill that will concentrate on reforming the regulatory structures of the Central Bank and the financial regulator.’’

Ms Coughlan said the bank’s management would respond to the Comptroller Auditor General’s report.

“The legislation to be enacted this year will set out a new statutory basis for the senior management structure. Corporate governance issues will also be addressed, as I have indicated. As the Central Bank is an independent institution, it is not subject to the direction of the Minister for Finance, or the Government, in the discharge of its functions.’’

She said Mr Lenihan had outlined his proposals on the delegation of banking roles to NTMA. “It is important to emphasise that the delegation of functions will not dilute the responsibility of the Minister for Finance in any way.”