Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I thank my Labour Party colleagues and others who have spoken on this motion. The most-read document in Ireland this month will not be a book on the bestseller list - it will be the individual payslips and social welfare receipts of thousands of people whose household incomes are dropping month by month. The Government's proposals for bailing out the banks are linked to the decisions it announced in the recent budget. As they look at the bottom right-hand corner of their payslips, people will ask why their simple expectations for themselves, their families and their children have vanished without a trace. They do not understand why they are being told to take responsibility for picking up the pieces after the biggest economic crisis this country has ever faced. Why are they being asked to take a share of the responsibility, having received none of the benefit? To answer this question, we must understand that we face a political crisis as well as a financial one. The crisis has been caused by Fianna Fáil's governance of the economy and the policy decisions it made over the past decade. I refer to decisions on issues like property tax relief; soft touch regulation; the triangular relationship between the Fianna Fáil-led Government, developers and bankers; and the operation of our system of political funding. Such decisions were not made in the boardrooms of AIB, Bank of Ireland or Anglo Irish Bank, or on a building site - they were made in this House. Those who implemented such policies should be held accountable to this House through an inquiry conducted by their peers.

It might be difficult to state when exactly this financial and political crisis started, but we know for sure that it did not end in September 2008. The proposal to undertake an inquiry that does not extend beyond that date is simply outrageous. It is proposed to examine how the heat was applied, but not to question how the Government reacted on the night the pot boiled over. At that time, the Minister for Finance said in this Chamber that the fundamentals were sound, that everything was in place, that there was nothing to be worried about and that the banks had the cash they needed to hand. In October 2008, the Financial Regulator told us that the financial fundamentals were sound. On the morning we were due to travel back to Dublin after the summer recess, Members of the Dáil woke up to hear that following major negotiations with the banks, legislation was to be introduced to guarantee bank deposits. The Minister told us at that time that the system to be introduced would deal with the financial situation without costing the Exchequer a cent. We have moved so far since then that matters of Exchequer accountability are now discussed in terms of billions and trillions of euro, with millions of euro being in the tuppenny ha'penny place.

Rightly or wrongly, a significant percentage of the public believes there was collusion, if not a conspiracy, between Fianna Fáil, developers, builders and bankers and that this ultimately led to the crashing of the economy. It is rightly regarded as suspicious that 40% of disclosed donations to Fianna Fáil between 1997 and 2007 came from the construction and development sector. Does this explain why over 80,000 houses that were surplus to requirements were built at the height of the property bubble, when house price records continued to be set? Does it explain why rules governing mortgage lending went out the window and repayment periods were extended from 20 years to 35 years and beyond? Does it explain why trusted banking approaches, involving a duty of care to customers and strict income lending and property value ratios, no longer applied? Does it explain why, according to this morning's newspapers, 300,000 homes are lying empty throughout the country at a time when 56,000 people are in need of housing? Ultimately, does it explain why so many home owners are facing negative equity and living with the real fear of having their homes repossessed? If, as Fianna Fáil frequently asserts, there is no conspiracy, it is in that party's interests to provide for a full public inquiry and thereby assert its good name.

In his response this evening, I would like the Minister for Finance to state without any mental reservation that the system of inquiry he has proposed will suffice to examine thoroughly all the evidence and to allay public suspicion on this matter. The Green Party have suggested that they will demand the assertion of certain principles during this investigation. It seems to me that a quotation from Groucho Marx applies in this context: "those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." Obviously, that is what the Green Party has said to Fianna Fáil in recent days. It was suggested last evening that the judgment in the case of Maguire v. Ardagh prevents future parliamentary inquiries from dealing with certain matters. However, research conducted by me, and by the Oireachtas library and research service on my behalf, shows that the ruling does not in any measure prohibit or prevent the Oireachtas from inquiring into policy matters or into the activities of the holders of public office. On that basis, those who hold or have held public office can be questioned in this House and in public view. There is no impediment to such an inquiry, regardless of the fig leaf behind which Fianna Fáil or the Green Party might choose to hide. There is a facility whereby former and past members of the Government can be questioned in public on their activities and roles over the past ten years.

Taken together, the collapse of our banking system, the failure to monitor the system and the manner in which lending, prudence and financial governance were allowed to get out of control represent one of the biggest scandals in the history of the State. It is crucial to our country's future that a banking inquiry works and is seen to work. Ultimately, such an inquiry should relate not only to the reputation and management of the banking sector, but also to the reputation of this House and the manner in which we conduct our business.

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