Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss the item of legislation that provides for the banking inquiry. We must remember that the banking fiasco wiped out so much individual wealth in the country and left people on the breadline. Members of the Oireachtas see this on a weekly basis at constituency clinics. I am on record as being opposed to the banking inquiry being held in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I was fearful, in the first instance, of politicians grandstanding on the issue. That would not do any justice to the Houses of the Oireachtas or a banking inquiry.

Furthermore, the tapes released from Anglo Irish Bank contain overwhelming evidence to form part of a criminal trial if needs be. As a Member of the Oireachtas and a member of one of the Government parties, I support the decision to proceed with the inquiry. If I get the opportunity, I would like to play a part in it.

I also welcome the cost savings in having an Oireachtas committee deal with the issue, compared with the tribunals that took place, the hundreds of millions of euro they cost and the years they took. It made multimillionaires of a number in my profession, the legal profession, and I have a difficulty with it as it came at the expense of the Irish taxpayer. However, the Oireachtas will now carry out the fact-finding function and I ask the Minister to ensure the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform will be adequately resourced. I have no doubt it will be but I must stress the point.

We must ensure the full co-operation of all State institutions. Those not co-operating, whether State institutions or individuals, should face some sanction. Some individuals will not be co-operative and there may be elements of mistruths in evidence. Given the provision in the Act that there can be no adverse effect on the reputation of individuals, it ties our hands.

The focus of the committee must be on the recklessness of lending. We need to unearth the reasons that changed the old conservative moneylending regime in Ireland to one of aggressive moneylending. We must know whether international best practice in banking was used and why decisions were made to enlarge commercial property lending and to offer 100% mortgages on tracker rates. We must find out whether strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, SWOT, analysis was carried out by bailed-out banks, whether due diligence was done in many instances and what risk analysis was undertaken. It seems it was limited in the extreme, given what has befallen the country. We must also ensure that not only are members of the banks' boards interviewed but also all members of various credit committees within the banks. They should have the opportunity to be examined by Members of the Oireachtas at the inquiry. We must ask why the regulator, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance were asleep at the wheel while this was going on.

We must also watch out for bias within the Oireachtas. Politics is full of opinions and a number of us in politics are here because we have strong opinions. However, I worry that an inquiry in the Oireachtas could be biased and unfair. We need only look at the fact that there is always political partisanship and patronage in much of what happens here. It would be remiss of me not to mention it. That should be left at the door in the interests of getting the truth out to the Irish taxpayer and to those of us who are here to clean up the mess as a result of what went on in the past number of years.

I continue to support the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act and I welcome it as a first step of Government accountability. I commend the Minister for his work in this regard and for bringing it to the fore at the first opportunity. We must ensure the inquiry is carried out quickly but not with undue haste. I thank the Minister for attending the Chamber and providing us with a good submission in respect of his thoughts.