The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 (No. 18) is an Act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

(Irish parliament). It was emergency legislation passed by the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

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

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. 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 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the "bank bailout of 2008" or the "Wall Street bailout", was a United States federal law enacted during the Great Recession, which created federal programs to "bail out" failing fi ...

and a subsequent record points-value fall in the

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indice ...

. 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.

Section 6

The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008 was made under powers conferred by section 6(4) of this Act.

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 page
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. Page
231
233 and 236. *William Johnston. Banking and Security Law in Ireland. Bloomsbury Professional. 2020. Paragraph 2.15 a
page 42
*Michael Forde. Commercial Law. Fourth Edition. Bloomsbury Professional. 2020. Paragraph 10.99 a
page 460
*Joanne Cox (ed). Business Law. Fifth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2012. Paragraph 11.3.5 a
page 188
{{reflist

External links

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 Post-2008 Irish economic downturn 2008 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 2000s Financial services in the Republic of Ireland