Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I object to the Order of Business. I do so because No. 3, which proposes to take the Central Bank Reform Bill, should be opposed on the basis that the Government does not wish to extend the inquiry beyond September 2008. I outlined during Taoiseach's Questions what should be done if the Government is serious about sorting out this matter for once and for all to restore our financial and banking sectors. I refer to having absolutely above board the institutions that deal with finance and financial lending with new regulatory regimes, as well as new oversight and regulation that works. It is imperative that the inquiry is not a whitewash or a cover up and that it is open ended to deal with the ongoing exposure of the further litany of banking scandals referred to by the Minister for Finance in his speech in the House on 30 March. He stated that senior banking officials had engaged in reckless lending for which the taxpayer would need to pay for years to come and that the banks had played fast and loose with Irish economic interests. From this perspective, I am opposed to the Order of Business, as it features something we must do.

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