Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Labour Party for tabling the motion. This debate offers the Government an opportunity to see sense. A committee of inquiry operating in an open and transparent manner would be a means of confirming and acknowledging what is being said in public. Most people seeking justice with only a small number seeking blood.

This proposal is an opportunity to have the House fulfil its democratic role and avail of the expertise required to find out what went wrong, when it went wrong and why, before making informed decisions. By tabling the amendment, the Government is refusing to afford members of the public a democratic opportunity to allow government to govern. Unfortunately, the Government made bad decisions and propagated and introduced light touch regulation. Now, however, it is preventing an opportunity to allow parliamentary democracy operate in an open and transparent manner.

The key issue is the absence of control over bankers and the banking institutions. We had a free-for-all caused by the displacement of good people from the banking system. In the 1980s senior banking personnel and managers knew how to bank and did not lend money willy-nilly. Systems and checks were in place and the good people running bank branches knew whether people could afford mortgages. These managers were replaced with others who had a sales philosophy and wanted to lend money regardless of whether borrowers could afford it.

A generation of people are going to bed at night with the fear that they will not be in a position to pay back their mortgages. The reason the Minister of State is not hearing about this is that it is a silent fear. That is where the danger lies.

We had an opportunity to seek out the expertise of those who were displaced, namely, retired bank managers and other banking personnel. An open and transparent committee of inquiry could have tapped into their expertise and asked them to explain the reason they did not lend in a free-for-all fashion in the 1980s, what systems they had in place and what pressures they came under to change the philosophy of banking.

What new systems were established as a result of the light touch regulation introduced by the Government? The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, enjoys a good reputation as a historian, while my background is in teaching. What banking expertise do Members have? In the Fine Gael parliamentary party Deputy Terence Flanagan worked in a bank. Politicians cannot control bankers until we start to regulate them. The only way we can regulate is to know how banking works. However, because we do not know how the system works, the bankers are having a laugh and waiting for the National Asset Management Agency to acquire large parts of their books.

The silent mortgage holders and those who are not in a position to pay back their loans will not receive assistance or resources. The bankers will still be in control and a laissez-faire attitude will once again prevail.

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