A Galway pension provider has called on the Minister for Finance to sack the board of the Financial Regulator.

"We asked the Minister to prevail upon his European colleagues to temporarily suspend the independence of the ECB and, together with European Finance Ministers, to take political and urgent control of the agenda.

"The current unprecedented financial crisis demands a dramatic solution. The ECB is too conservatively fixated on a very low inflation agenda. This crisis now needs an inflation boost for a period to stabilize markets.

"If Europe doesn't act fast and act together, we will be left behind by developments in the US and the consequences in terms of unemployment are almost too difficult to contemplate, " she warned.

Ms Hession said the position of the board of the Financial Regulator is untenable.

"We need a new regulatory environment headed up by an international figure, not of the banking world.

"There is a real danger that in the current environment that we get more regulation rather than more effective regulation. We raised with the Minister the fact that, while the Regulator had applied light touch regulation to the banking sector, it is applying a very heavy hand to the SME sector.

"Good regulation is essential for the consumer, for the reputation of Ireland inc and for honest businesses.

"However, regulation should be proportionate to the level of potential risk posed to consumers," she said.

The organisation pointed out that the banks were exempted from key elements of the Consumer Protection Code in the case of 'basic banking products', such as current accounts, overdrafts, ordinary deposit accounts and term deposits of less than one year, exposing consumers to bad value products, accounts in which the consumers hold €70 billion.

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