Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Why does the Minister think the Committee of Public Accounts has a statutory basis? If it has a statutory basis, why can a committee as important as this, overseeing the expenditure of €54 billion not have a statutory basis?

This is typical Department of Finance stuff. During all the years I have been in here, the Department of Finance has wanted to hold power in its hands at all times. If we had provision in legislation, the crisis we are facing now would not have happened because it would have been debated here on a regular basis and the Minister would have been answering questions. That would have been to his advantage.

What guarantee can the Minister give the Irish taxpayer that after the next election, whoever is in the Minister's chair will reappoint the committee? If it does not have a statutory basis, there is no guarantee that the committee will continue into the next Dáil or the following Dáil.

There is no explanation. If the Committee of Public Accounts has a statutory footing, surely expenditure of this size should fall within an oversight committee's remit. Who will represent the taxpayer on the board? Surely the taxpayer is entitled to know who will represent him. It is a reasonable request.

What about the master special purpose vehicle? We do not even know about it. Why should we not have power to review the shareholders' agreement undertaken by the master special purpose vehicle? This is a joke, where no power is being given to the Oireachtas to perform its function and check what is happening.

In all my time in this House and in Government, it was the same old story, and the Minister knows it. The Department of Finance will demand to see all legislation that goes to the Cabinet before anything can be done. That is exactly what is happening here, they are all afraid to release power to the Oireachtas because they know best.

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