Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I support the Fine Gael amendment. The Minister for Finance promised the Dáil that he would consult the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service on the commission of inquiry. We have had a number of meetings with the Minister which have proved fruitless so far because the Minister basically wants to exclude all forms of inquiry into political performance and into the performance of the Department of Finance from the provisions of the inquiry. Professor Honohan offered an alternative, which I supported and I believe other parties were considering favourably, which was that the Honohan process would recommence as a series of inquiries into each bank and failed institution.

We need to bear in mind that in the world records of banking, Anglo Irish Bank's loss of €18.5 billion has emerged as the biggest banking loss in the world last year. The guarantee was supposed to be the tidiest little guarantee that would cost us nothing and we would have the fastest turnaround. We were supposed to be the first into recession and the first out. It was all a load of poppycock. Professor Honohan sensibly argued for a second stage of his inquiry into each of the banks analysing the role of the Department of Finance and the other agencies in leading the banks to their doom. If we had that, and as the Fine Gael amendment suggests, a timely report published, we would be in a position to have closure by reporting to this House, being accountable and moving on. In that context I support the Fine Gael amendment.

See this speech in context