Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

It is at the time when one faces a crisis that leadership is tested. What happened with the Labour Party? It did what it always did, it panicked, ran away and failed to address what was of interest to the nation. Quality of leadership is tested in those times and when the Labour Party was tested it failed. It did not have the capacity in those days. As I said, when the Minister, Deputy Lenihan, approached the Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Kenny, he was given a positive response, and I want to acknowledge that.

Let us consider what the reports actually say, as oppose to the mythological interpretation given by Deputy Burton. For example, in the case of the reports produced by Mr. Regling and Mr. Watson and Professor Honohan, their judgment on the case of Government and the responses to the crisis are very positive, but not unquestionably so. For example, when they appeared before the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service last week, Mr. Regling and Mr. Watson were specifically asked by the Opposition spokespersons on a number of occasions about their response to the Government's handling of the banking crisis.

Mr. Regling said, "Both of us have the view that the crisis management in this country has been very good, in particular when compared to other countries in the European Union".

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