Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome what the Minister said. I note what Senator Thomas Byrne said and his words of caution must be taken on board. The Minister is proceeding with caution and I commend what he has done. We want to go speedily but caution is necessary. Terms of reference are vital and I like what the Minister said about the Committee on Procedure and Privileges in each House. There is less possibility of grandstanding by Senators than by certain Deputies. When the Committee on Procedure and Privileges deals with this, the point will be ironed out. I welcome that the Minister is involving both Houses of the Oireachtas because accountability and transparency are vital.

It is essential the terms of reference are tight and confined. We have learned what can go wrong from inquiries in the past. The DIRT inquiry is held up as a great inquiry but the committee was lucky because it had the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General as a book of evidence. There will be nothing like that in this case, although the Nyberg report and the report of the Governor of the Central Bank will be helpful as a backdrop.

The Minister stresses impartiality, fairness and a balanced approach. That goes without saying and is a sine qua non. To get at the matter properly and the people involved, we realise there are three cases in process and we must have regard to them. I am inclined to agree with Senator Thomas Byrne on the point that Anglo Irish Bank cannot be excluded. However, the modular approach must take care of it. With a careful and cautious approach, this matter can be handled sensitively and properly. We are all approaching it that way and we want to be careful. We realise that when this happened on the famous night, a gun was put to the head. We must learn to get behind that. We do not know as none of us was there. I look forward to the inquiry proceeding with caution. The Minister has taken on board all of the lessons that must be learned in approaching this matter. I am pleased it will happen and I look forward to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges in each House getting stuck into it and taking the advice of the Minister and the experts on how to go about it. Hopefully, we can learn something.