THE governor of the Central Bank is to be obliged to appear before the Dail's Finance and General Affairs Committee. This is among provisions of the Central Bank Bill introduced by the Minister of State for Finance, Ms Avril Doyle.

At present, she said, the governor attended before the committee on an informal basis. The Bill provided that he should attend and furnish information "having due regard to the independence of the bank" and restrictions regarding confidentiality provisions imposed on him under banking legislation.

The Bill would also allow for the transposition into Irish law of an EU directive on cross-Border credit transfers. This would regulate time limits and information relating to transfers and was primarily a consumer protection measure.

Another provision related to crossed cheques, and would ensure that if someone wrote a cheque to someone else no one could have the use of it between the time the cheque was written and received by the named payee. If an intermediary received the cheque and cashed it, the intermediary and the bank which cashed it would be committing an offence.

The Fianna Fail finance spokesman, Mr Charlie McCreevy, said the role of the Central Bank would be diminished over the coming years. "Most of its traditional jurisdiction will have disappeared to Frankfurt upon our entry to the EMU."

Referring to proposals in the Bill regarding licensing of bureaux de change, he said there was a role for the Central Bank here, but "an awful lot of the sections are a reflection of some empire building on behalf of a number of state agencies". Regulations pertaining to licensing of a payment system were fraught with legal problems, and he feared the Central Bank could become a defendant in the event of the collapse of a bureau.

The debate was adjourned.