Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are having this discussion because of the Anglo Irish Bank tapes. I asked the Taoiseach whether there are tapes from Irish Nationwide, Irish Life & Permanent, EBS, Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland. If I heard him properly, he said he cannot answer the question for me. Why not? Since he is stating this Parliament needs to know all the answers, he should please ask somebody for the answer. When he sat at his desk in Government Buildings to face one of the biggest scandals in banking, did he not decide he would get to the bottom of it? He should please ask for a response. Must we depend on the newspaper to tell us the story of whether there are tapes and other revelations about the other banks?

Since he came into office, the Taoiseach talked a lot about restoring the reputation of the State and its financial institutions. Yesterday and today, he will have noted that the international media is awash with justifiable and scathing criticism of the Fianna Fáil and current Governments. The truth is that this is the best small country for big bankers, corrupt politicians and speculators.

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