Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

It is obvious that the Government is not managing the current crisis in the financial sector. What we have here is a whisper in the ear or a word on the side all leading to that type of reactive politics and overall management. The decision of Mr. Boucher of Bank of Ireland to forego the €1.5 million top-up of his pension arrangements is clearly an example of that and shows that the way things have been done in the past is the way things are still being done today. This is further exemplified in the fact that the code of conduct on fitness and probity arising from the Central Bank Reform Bill, which is before the House as of yesterday, has not yet been published. We do not even have a draft of the code, yet it is emphasised in the structure of the Bill as a core requirement. We have not yet had any indication as to what the code will contain and no indication as to whether Opposition voices in the House will be listened to. We have been proven right time after time by the Government being forced, at a later stage, to take decisions it failed to take at the appropriate time. Here we are, once again, going through the motions of dealing with the Central Bank Reform Bill when one of its key and core elements has not yet been published. This is outrageous and demonstrates that the Government has learned nothing.

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