Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe go dtí an coiste. I am astonished at some of the contributions I have heard. It does not surprise me, however, that the call on the insurance fund has gone up. If one looks back at the transcripts of the committee from September or October of last year, when the legislation was being rushed through the Oireachtas, this issue was flagged up by Sinn Féin and others. What happened in this instance was unique, with a requirement for members to submit amendments to legislation before Second Stage had even taken place. In the Seanad, all Stages were dealt with within 24 hours of the Bill being published. This is what happens when that type of legislation is rushed through the Houses.

The potential call on this fund is €1.6 billion. I am aghast at what we have heard from the professionals, the Central Bank and the Department. What has been described is almost like a game of Monopoly, with no acknowledgment that we are dealing with real people's money and real people's lives. We have six witnesses representing three of the agencies directly involved, yet there has been no apology or admission that they got it wrong.