Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 Explained

The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 (No. 18) is an Act of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). It was emergency legislation passed by the Irish Government on Tuesday, 30 September 2008 and enacted on Thursday, 2 October to provide a €440 billion guarantee to six Irish banks to prevent possible collapse as a result of the Financial crisis of 2007–2008

It was the first time since its foundation that the Seanad began debate on legislation after midnight, passing the bill at 8 a.m. on Thursday 2 October.

Background

The decision to introduce the bill was made following Monday 29 September 2008, when the ISEQ fell a record 13%, when a number of banks in Europe were collapsing and the United States congress initially rejected their Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and a subsequent record points-value fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

There was a direct positive response on the liquidity markets on the day the bill was announced.

Constitutionality

In Collins v Minister for Finance, the Supreme Court found that the Act was constitutional.^{[1] [2]}

Section 6

The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008 was made under powers conferred by section 6(4) of this Act.^{[3] [4]}

References

• Hogan, Whyte, Kenny and Walsh. Kelly: The Irish Constitution. Fifth Edition. Bloomsbury Professional. 2018. Paragraphs 3.4.29, 3.4.32 to 3.4.37, 4.2.49, 4.3.93 and 6.2.159 at pages 229, 231 to 233, 305, 413, 963 and 964.
• Beukers, de Witte and Kilpatrick (eds). Constitutional Change through Euro-Crisis Law. Cambridge University Press. 2017. Pages 231, 233 and 236.
• William Johnston. Banking and Security Law in Ireland. Bloomsbury Professional. 2020. Paragraph 2.15 at page 42.
• Michael Forde. Commercial Law. Fourth Edition. Bloomsbury Professional. 2020. Paragraph 10.99 at page 460.
• Joanne Cox (ed). Business Law. Fifth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2012. Paragraph 11.3.5 at page 188.

External links

• "EU-wide approach needed" Irish Times opinion piece
• Oireachtas, 2008 The Houses of the Oireachtas, "Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 No.x of 2008, Published: 18 April 2007, Accessed: 25 October 2007

Notes and References

1. The decision in the High Court is Collins v Minister of Finance [2013] IEHC 530; [2013] 4 IR 522; [2013] 11 JIC 2601. The decision in the Supreme Court is Collins v Minister of Finance [2016] IESC 73; [2017] 1 ILRM 65; [2017] 3 IR 99.
2. Morag (ed), Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic, 2023, p 26; Albi and Bardutzky (eds), National Constitutions in European and Global Governance, 2019, pp 1361 & 1362.
3. Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008. si. 2008. 20 October 2008. Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance.
4. Stella . Schaefer-Brown . Ireland: Credit Institution (Financial Support) Scheme, 2008 . 4 . Journal of Financial Crises . 21 December 2022 . 4 . 214–231 .