Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte roimh an gcoiste. I thank the delegates for appearing before the joint committee and the work they have been doing for many years. There is no doubt that the actions of Mr. O'Flynn's group were instrumental. The blog he wrote in the early stages which showed, on a weekly basis, the guaranteed and unguaranteed debt being paid by the State was instrumental in shaping the debate at the time. Information is power and by putting it into the public domain it forced the then Government to deal with some of the challenges from groups such as his and others within the Houses.

It important to hear again the fact that we are continuing to pay Anglo Irish Bank's debt on a month by month and year by year basis and that that will continue to be the case for many years to come. There is much debate about the state of the economy and the upcoming budget, reducing debt and not borrowing to deal with other social crises, but, as Mr. O'Flynn has made clear, we are continuing to borrow money to nullify the promissory note given to Anglo Irish Bank in 2010 and that will continue to be the case.

Mr. O'Flynn has made the point that it is not just about economics, it is also about the rights and wrongs of this. I could not agree more with him. There is not anything in his presentation with which I do not agree, except in the case of the some of the bankers. On the jailing of Mr. David Drumm and the fraud he perpetrated within Anglo Irish Bank-----