Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Tá áthas orm an deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an Bille tábachtach seo - cé nach dtéann sé fada go leor - An Bille um Athchóiriú an Bhanc Ceannais, ina bhfuil muid ag iarraidh a dhéanamh cinnte nach dtarlóidh a leithéid agus a tharla go dtí seo arís amach anseo. Táimid ag foghlaim ó bhotúin na ndaoine úd a bhí i gceannas go dtí seo agus, is trua an rud é, ó dhaoine atá fós i gceannas.

The last contribution reminded me of school religion classes on Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the crucifixion. The Government has no conscience when it comes to its deeds which led to the current banking scandal. That is the most galling part of the debate and the Government's actions to date. It feels it has absolutely no responsibility for the situation in which the State finds itself, for the many thousands of people who face unemployment and repossession orders or for the many thousands of young people contemplating emigrating from these shores. It is not good enough for a Government Member to stand up in here to waffle for 20 minutes and to wash his hands of the consequences of his Government's actions which have led to a banking scandal.

This State is being run by a cosy cartel of right-wing politicians. Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have been bailing out the banks with more and more taxpayers' money in the past two years. What has that achieved? What lessons have been learned by those who have caused the financial crisis? If one were to go by the previous contribution in particular, nothing has been learned. It seems to be a case of business as usual and would it not be great if we returned to the era of bonuses and pay rises? We seem to have already returned to that era if we examine recent announcements on various banks which are effectively under receivership. I refer to Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland in particular but also to Allied Irish Banks.

The bottom line is that the banks took risks because they knew that if they failed they would be bailed out, and they are being bailed out by a bottomless recapitalisation offered by the Government. They know with even greater certainty that they will continue to get away with their selfish, reckless practices which have brought this country to the brink of ruin. This Government has rewarded bad behaviour when instead it should have sent the financial shysters to sit on the naughty step. In fact, they should be in jail.

This week, Goldman Sachs is being investigated in the United States for fraud. It has been credibly alleged that, as the banking crisis and recession took hold, Goldman Sachs exploited that as an opportunity to make further profit for itself at the expense of others. Reports suggest that while the economy was turning belly up, Goldman Sachs developed and sold risky mortgage packages and then bet against them. That was a win-win position for the Wall Street giant. A series of damning internal Goldman Sachs e-mails have been published by the United States authorities, one of which reports the good news that the wipe-out of one security and the imminent collapse of another meant that Goldman Sachs would make $5 billion from a bet against the instruments it had set up and sold.

Even after the US authorities moved to charge Goldman Sachs with fraud against its investors to the tune of $1 billion, and the German and British authorities in turn commenced investigations, what was its response? Goldman Sachs, one of the top companies, could not care less about the investigation. It awarded itself a new round of bonuses for its staff amounting to $3.5 billion.

One might ask what all of that has got to do with us. As the Government consistently reminds us, in a futile effort to evade taking responsibility for the nation's current troubles, we live in a global economy. Our banks are tied up with the international financial markets. Our banks eventually follow where their international role models lead, and Goldman Sachs analysts issue assessments of Irish banks which have consequences for their ability to raise capital. The per-share profit estimates issued by Goldman analysts have consequences for Irish stocks. If Goldman Sachs is found to be involved in the fraud alleged, that has consequences in terms of all the advice the Government listened to from that quarter in recent years.

What has the Government done in response to the growing evidence of fraud by this financial ogre? I would like to know if it has blacklisted Goldman Sachs from future contracts and consultancies. Has it sought to minimise the consequences for Ireland of the activities of this organisation? It has not done so to date. In fact, the Fianna Fáil-led Government sought an endorsement of the NAMA plans from Goldman Sachs and it has been happy to rely on that ever since. Is that a flawed endorsement? Is it to benefit Goldman Sachs? Is Goldman Sachs betting against us? Is it betting on its failure? Is that what is behind its endorsement?

We should not be under any illusion. Fine Gael would not do any better. The slimey Fine Gael hack, Peter Sutherland, who is pumped up on his own arrogance and self-importance, would close half of the Irish universities if he got his way. He is a chairman of Goldman Sachs International. I note also that one of the Senators in the other House is a director of Goldman Sachs Ireland. That world of cosy, crony capitalism which both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael inhabit is a source of our country's woes and almost our financial ruin.

It is not just the political masters who are responsible, but also the financial masters. Bank of Ireland announced today its intention to impose another round of interest rate hikes on mortgage customers. That follows the 50% increase on home insurance premiums it commenced recently. The Government is a 36% shareholder in Bank of Ireland, yet Bank of Ireland continues to enjoy the guarantee from the Government. That is not acceptable because Bank of Ireland is penalising its customers for its mistakes.

The Government, using its shareholding, must intervene because Bank of Ireland is screwing the taxpayer who is bailing it out. It is further screwing the taxpayers who have mortgages with it through its interest rate rises. Is that to pay for its bonuses or for its failed gambling and to ensure it can continue to make profits on the back of the Irish people? It appears it is in a win-win position because it does not suffer the consequences.

One of the roles of the Central Bank is to curb those excesses and ensure that those who gamble, and it is a major gamble because the stock market is playing monopoly with people's lives and we have seen the consequences of that recently, are not allowed to pass on the consequences of their gambling to the taxpayer. That is what has been happening in the banking sector in recent months and in the past two years in particular.

A property lending binge was embarked upon by the Irish banks for almost a decade, and possibly longer. The Government facilitated that and was very much pro-real estate policy. For almost 15 years, the growth in bank credit outstripped the nominal growth in GNP by a factor of 2% to 3%. Poor lending standards, unregulated products and bonus bonanzas brought the financial sector to its knees.

The Central Bank's role should have been to show caution but it did not do that. It ensured that credit was readily available and, as a result, a range of financial liberalisation measures including relaxation and abolition of exchange controls, interest only mortgages, 100% mortgages, equity withdrawal, re-mortgaging and mortgaging with longer terms occurred under the watch of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator. All of them occurred under the governance of the Fianna Fáil Party.

Who suffered from the miserable excuse for regulation that was prevalent in this State? It was not any member of the current Cabinet or of a Cabinet that governed during that period. None of the consecutive Taoisigh or Ministers for Finance who presided over that regime has been held to account to date. It is hoped the electorate will hold them to account in due course. It was not any of the bank directors who abused the system for their own gain, and we have seen by way of a drip-drip measure the way they abuse their position, and nor has it been the auditors or the accountants who were blind to or hid the abnormalities across these financial institutions.

The people who have suffered are the ordinary people who are being crippled by the failure to regulate properly. I refer to the people who got 90% to 100% mortgages and those who are now facing mortgage interest hikes while simultaneously losing their jobs and having social welfare cuts imposed on them because their taxes are being used to bail out banks and property speculators.

The economic crisis would have been less severe had legislation or regulations to restrict predatory lending been adopted. Some argued at the time that loose lending standards would enable more individuals to become homeowners, but it should have been made clear that giving a loan to somebody which was beyond their capacity to pay is not doing them or society a favour; the opposite is the case.

The main beneficiaries were those giving the loans. People are now burdened with unsustainable mortgage debt and the prospect of repossession. This is the direct effect of Fianna Fáil dismantling of regulation and its failure to heed warnings from economists and members of the Opposition. We heard on television and radio advertisements for financial services products at the end of which was included the familiar by-line "regulated by the Financial Regulator". Looking back, what good did this do ordinary people? From what we can see, financial regulation during the most controversial period in our economic history was redundant. In fact, it gave licence to the risky and speculative financial practices that have thrown Ireland into the economic mess it is now in.

We want all those who participated in and encouraged the practices that brought about the current crisis held to account and criminal convictions pursued. There were early warnings of what the banks were engaging in. There was little doubt what caused this and little was done to improve regulation in the banking sector. The OECD criticised Irish financial regulation and supervision, in particular in regard to Anglo Irish Bank, saying that the threat of enforcement was too weak and that the regulator should have been better informed and more intrusive in dealing with that institution. The signs were ignored by the Central Bank, the Financial Regulator and the Government. Had any of them paid attention to the balance sheet growth of Anglo Irish Bank, actions could have been taken to curb the crisis that was developing in that institution. Usually, a 20% growth in any financial institution would be a catalyst for action by the Central Bank or Financial Regulator. In the case of Anglo Irish Bank the average annual growth was 36%.

While it was uncovered in 1997 that directors of National Irish Bank were acting ultra vires, it took 11 years before they were brought to court and struck off. There should be no delays or backlogs in dealing with wrongdoing in the financial sector. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Garda Síochána have to date failed to secure the prosecution of bankers despite 18 months of investigations. Are we to wait a further ten years before one or two bankers are prosecuted? I hope not. The white collar crime and corruption that has engulfed the Irish banking sector needs to be treated as seriously as any other form of crime and needs to be prosecuted quickly and effectively. The failure to date of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Government to prosecute the bankers is undermining the financial well-being of this State. What they did is the equivalent of economic sabotage. Other people have referred to this as "treason". They have through their actions put not alone the banking sector but the entire country in crisis. Regulatory sanctions should in the future be sufficient to ensure compliance and to penalise proportionately in respect of proven breaches. We need to ensure this happens. In the United States, Bernie Madoff was imprisoned on 12 March 2009, some 91 days following the investigation by authorities there. The failure of the Irish Government to conduct a thorough investigation and to bring prosecutions against bankers and financial miscreants can be attributed to a lack of political will and a fear of what will be uncovered, namely, that these malpractices were allowed to happen because of the Government-created culture and the exposure of political favouritism.

I heard the previous speaker refer to Mr. Michael Fingleton and Irish Nationwide Building Society. He stated that Mr. Fingleton ran that institution like a personal fiefdom. There are many within and outside this House who are beholden to Mr. Fingleton. These people need to be exposed so that the full extent of that corruption is known. This is the case not alone in terms of Irish Nationwide Building Society but also in regard to Anglo Irish Bank, Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland in respect of favours given and by which all of the regulations and rules in regard to mortgages were breached time and again.

In terms of Anglo Irish Bank, the skulduggery and manoeuvrings of that bank will possibly result in the loss of 6,000 jobs in the Quinn Group. A case can be made, given the nature and importance of these jobs in the Border region and in parts of Dublin, for nationalisation of the Quinn Group until such time as it can be sold. It should be nationalised to secure those jobs and existing business. It can then be sold off in the future if the State so wishes, as it did with the PMPA. The case can also be made that we already own these companies because of the Government bailout of Anglo Irish Bank and the fact that we have underwritten it. Somebody needs to speak up to protect those jobs. Perhaps that company could be nationalised to protect the interests of the State and the 6,000 jobs involved. I ask the Minister of State to consider that.

There is a discrepancy between the private and social returns of lending. What we are discussing this evening is the Central Bank Reform Bill 2009 and the job which the Financial Regulator needs to do.

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