Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Surely that runs contrary to the commitment given by both banks to engage actively in the process of recapitalisation since last autumn, which has not happened. I was informed by the chairman of AIB that efforts were being made. Why did the bank not dispose of its US assets? It did not happen because it is waiting for the Minister to act.

What is the Minister doing in conjunction with the Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Justice, Equality and Law Reform to deal with the company law breaches that are alleged to have taken place? Bank executives claim to have done no wrong. I have read through the Companies (Amendment) Act 1990. There are the matters of fraud, deceit, false reporting, failure to report, failure to disclose and failure to lodge papers in the Companies Office in cases specifically where directors take out loans from their own company. It seems pretty straightforward and yet no Minister has said there might be a role for the Director of Corporate Enforcement in this regard. Can the director act without a report or a referral? Can he not act on his own initiative? Has any member of Government on behalf of the people entered into negotiations with the director to ascertain what role he has in the matter?

What about the auditors who failed to establish the facts? The fundamental role of any audit company is to exercise an element of oversight and vigilance. It seems that the big corporate group involved did not see what was going on and knew nothing. What reportage can be undertaken to the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding these corporate criminals? What message are we sending out as a Parliament to hard-pressed mortgage holders and people who are losing their jobs?

At midnight last night I left a meeting with a man in my constituency. When I told him I had received a summons from the Ceann Comhairle to attend a special sitting here today, he asked me whether I would have an opportunity to speak. I told him that, subject to the Whips, I might. He proceeded to tell me that the compensation he got from the acquisition of his farm by the National Roads Authority was invested in Anglo Irish Bank shares. What message does the Minister have today for that man and the countless other pension holders whose pensions on the advice of accountants and financial experts were invested in bank shares? We were told these were blue chip, guaranteed, gold plated and the best possible.

The rot must stop. It is time to put the entire financial system under the microscope. It cannot be done by anyone other than the Minister for Finance. However, he will need to talk to his colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and ascertain what role the Director of Corporate Enforcement has in the matter. The champagne and chocolates are finished, but the financial future of the State is threatened. The banks seem to be pulling the strings with the Department of Finance on occasions. While this Bill will be passed this evening, it is far from the end of the problems and difficulties, as the Minister knows. We cannot debate these matters under a shadow of ignorance with information being withheld. We need to know that information and the Minister is the key to it. He owes it not just to this House, but also to the people.

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