Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

In the context of the Taoiseach's reference to parliamentary committees, the area of most interest to people relates to regulation of banks. There is a perceived absolute failure of the banks to, for example, highlight the shocking failure to find out about the loans advanced to Mr. Seán FitzPatrick, the former managing director and chairman of Anglo Irish Bank.

The Taoiseach spoke about the use of committees but there is a more fundamental question. With regard to the financial system, is the Taoiseach having second thoughts about light-touch regulation — the model proposed by the Government for this country which has resulted in shocking lapses of regulation? Does he propose to examine how the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland and the Financial Regulator failed in the context of protecting the banking system and businesses and other customers of the banks and the taxpayers who will pay the price?

Last weekend's newspapers carried reliable stories confirming what the Taoiseach indicated to the Dáil last week, namely, that in respect of the mysterious Quinn affair and the acquisition of shares, the Financial Regulator was aware of the purchase of those shares by means of contract for difference from as early as December 2007 and very definitely from January 2008. However, action was not taken to address these issues. When the Financial Regulator was invited to come before the relevant Oireachtas committee, he decided that although he was not due to retire until this weekend, he would not make an appearance. The committee had no way to force him to come before it.

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