Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

In the interests of national stability, I will not be jumping. The last thing we want is another Iceland and we do not want to talk down the economy or this country. We must speak honestly and openly about the culture of corruption and how it was created. Why did this culture exist within banking circles? It was because the body politic was happy to take this, and the bankers assumed this was a nod and a wink. The same applied to developers and speculators, who were happy to give legitimate donations. I have figures for various Fine Gael Deputies in the Fine Gael investigation which found that there was no link between a donation and voting for a particular rezoning. Of course there was no link because most councillors are upstanding. Let us not say that everyone is corrupt because they are not. However, the fact that one accepts a donation leaves one open to the accusation that one might be corrupt or unduly influenced. For a population seeking leadership and sacrifice, is it too much to ask the political parties not to dip into the filthy pot but to make decisions in the interests of the country rather than the moral influence of bankers, developers, speculators and trade unions from whom we take the money? I have had my rant at the Opposition——

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