Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I recall when the Minister for Finance was first raised to ministerial office, he attended the Magill summer school at Glenties. There he made the point about this House having outsourced much of its responsibility to outside agencies which he regarded as a retrograde step because the lines of accountability were weak, if non-existent. It is an issue on which you, a Cheann Comhairle, have reflected upon also. Regrettably, little has been done in addressing it.

The Dáil has outsourced, in good faith, responsibilities to the Governor of the Central Bank, the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Financial Regulator. They have all, to various degrees, failed to execute their responsibilities. This amendment proposes that the House, in a parallel system, retains the right to act in certain respects and the powers it vests in outside agencies.

The point has been made ad nauseam that there has been much anger among the little people who pay their taxes. Many of them worked all their lives, gathered a lump sum and, in good faith, invested it in a portfolio of shares which may have included Anglo Irish Bank. These people feel betrayed and exposed by what has happened under the Minister's watch. The Minister referred to disappointment over Seán FitzPatrick's dealings but there is also disappointment with the Financial Regulator's failure. He allegedly stress-tested these financial institutions on foot of developments at Northern Rock some 18 months ago and gave them a clear bill of health. This is a clear failure of the agencies in which we in good faith have vested responsibility.

The amendment proposes to allow the House to act along the same lines it has vested in others. It is sensible to adopt it, given that the Minister has reflected in the past on the lack of accountability to the House. This affair has been a massive cost to the economy and the country's international standing among global investors. Our name has been sullied all over the globe. Here is a chance for this House, as the voice of the people, to reclaim some of the high ground in respect of what is right and proper and to apportion blame where it rightfully rests. Merely to acknowledge disappointment is insufficient in a debate as important as this. The amendment would go some way to addressing the deficiencies exposed.

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