Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

The sole focus of the Labour Party in tabling this motion is that a tribunal will be up and running in the run up to the next election. Deputy Burton was welcomed on to my local radio station this morning and, as I said to her on that programme, this did not work during the last general election campaign and it will not work for the next general election.

The focus of the Government must be on encouraging lending into the economy and getting the banking system up and running again. The Labour Party has opposed every measure brought before the Oireachtas. When Deputy Burton raised a banking inquiry, her total focus was on whether the Taoiseach would appear before it. That should not be the focus. The focus for Labour Party Members is the next general election but the Government is focused on getting people back to work.

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