Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Much work has been done by the committee in getting to this point. The Committee on Procedure and Privileges has had a number of meetings and has gone through the proposal and the amendments in considerable detail. One of the amendments, with regard to the euro project, is incredibly important. Deputy O'Donnell spoke about what led up to the guarantee and the euro project is central to it. It is important that it is part of it.

We must ask ourselves what we want from the banking inquiry and most definitely we need to learn lessons as otherwise we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. We need to do more than this; we must see how we can strengthen our hand with regard to our relationship with the European Union, particularly with the ECB. The ECB seems to want it every way. It wanted the benefit of low interest rates and big economies, flooding the banking systems of countries such as Ireland with cheap money, but it was very capable of breaking its own rules, particularly in permitting IOUs to be written in the form of promissory notes. We have been utterly short-changed in this regard, and I want to see major attention on this issue because much more on this could be played out if we, as a country, have the courage to do something about it.

There are downsides to the banking inquiry, including that those who will sit on it on our behalf will have to give it 100% attention. It will take a great deal of time and effort, and it will not be a question of being able to go in and out. We are asking them to do this in the run-up to a general election. This is a tall order for people who exist in a politically competitive environment and we should not underestimate exactly how difficult this will be.

Another concern is the length of time it will take. I know it has a tight timeframe, but there is a presumption the Government will last for the duration, or at least until the end of next year, but I do not believe this is all that certain. We can count the number of Deputies in the Labour Party and Fine Gael, but we are now in a much more volatile environment and how long the Government will last is not something one can predetermine. We will expend a considerable amount of taxpayers' money on this work and there is the potential of serious criticism if a general election is called before the work is complete. We are taking a risk by launching the inquiry at this stage.

There are lessons to be learned, but it is not enough merely to learn lessons. I stress the point that we need to pay particular attention to the European Union, in particular the ECB and what flowed from the Maastricht treaty. I wish those who will sit on the inquiry well. It will be a difficult task and not one without downsides.

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