Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is very kind.

Yesterday was a bad day for Parliament. "It goes without saying that the worst financial crisis this country has ever experienced requires an inquiry." That was the opening sentence of yesterday's speech by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan. While I agree with the Minister, what he should have said was, "The worst financial crisis in this country's history requires a public inquiry." The inquiry is not public, Parliament has been sidelined and the critical events of the months of September and October 2008 are excluded. We have a private inquiry that is designed to shelter the key players in our economic downfall from public scrutiny. With evangelical zeal the Green Party continues to see white blackbirds. So much for its demand for "an open public inquiry with meaningful Oireachtas involvement."

If "the worst financial crisis" in our history is not the business of Parliament, what is Parliament's business? The Irish people who are paying the piper want accountability. They expect to see those responsible for the banking crash made amenable and want to judge for themselves why and how the crash happened. The Government has relegated the process by having it behind closed doors. When the report is finished – hopefully some time in 2011, although it may well be later – Dáil Éireann will be invited in a routine way to discuss its findings after the event.

I am sorry Deputy Fleming has left the House. I have some reservations about the wisdom of imposing on the new Governor of the Central Bank the obligation to investigate his staff, nor is it clear that Professor Honohan can discharge such a function without breaching section 33AK of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act.

The Dáil is being diminished in relevance, while the executive and the judicial arms continue to develop. The Labour Party is convinced that the parliamentary model of inquiry can be a focused, cost-effective, expeditious and fair means of dealing with issues of important public interest, legislative proposals, public accountability of the Executive and its agencies and value for money in respect of public moneys, whether voted by the Dáil or raised from other sources. Our conclusion is that an effective parliamentary power of inquiry is essential to the relevance of parliament to public life in a modern day, representative democracy.

The parliamentary inquiry, properly organised and conducted, is a natural extension of parliamentary oversight. The Labour Party Bill would enable such an inquiry which, in turn, would have enhanced Parliament and satisfied the demands of most people who are being burdened with higher taxes and pay cuts to rescue the banks from their reckless behaviour.

Our main argument for strengthening the Dáil is that it enhances public accountability. A vigorously active and independent parliament with the powers to investigate matters of serious public importance would ensure the systemic abuses and breakdown of good government highlighted by the DIRT inquiry, the various tribunals and other inquiries would be less likely to recur.

This secret inquiry is an old style Fianna Fáil stroke. Members of the Fianna Fáil Party know well what they are doing. Members of the Green Party, on the other hand, are like those people who visited Knock and damaged their eyesight while staring into the sun. Being in government has dazzled them so badly that they do not recognise that the only thing public about this inquiry is their humiliation by Fianna Fáil. It is amusing to note from the contributions of Fianna Fáil Deputies that an outsider would be forgiven for believing that the motion was tabled by their party. My friend and neighbour, Deputy O'Connor, like many of his colleagues, is upset about partisan politics.

See this speech in context