Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute to this debate. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, for his clear statement to the House this evening. It will be a useful speech.

When I read the Opposition's motion, I was unable to determine whether it was referring to the past or the present. It is not timeframed. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, has adequately set out the actions taken by Government since 2008. I want to echo what Deputy Flynn said, namely, that there is no premium on anger. It is not that Members on that side of the House are angry and we, on the other side, are cold and callous. We are as incensed as anyone else in the country at the manner in which the various people at the top of the financial institutions behaved. They have squandered the trust people put in them. I saw on television last night a clip showing all of the people who attended the Allied Irish Banks special meeting. I felt sorry for them and do not know what stopped them pelting apples or oranges at the people concerned, even though it was not the man currently in charge who was in place at the time. Those people lost all of their savings. The banks took their money and even though they have lost all their savings, they were politely sitting in their seats listening to what Mr. David Hodgkinson was saying. It was parroted from sections of this and the opposite side of the House that the Government was "in bed" with the bankers and speculators and that it was encouraging this heinous behaviour, which is incorrect.

I, too, wish to see some of them in handcuffs being brought in and out of prison but it will not happen because we have embraced a different justice system here. Whether one believes the American system is good and ours is not, that is our system of justice and it has served us well.

I heard Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy, say clearly on television last night that they were getting ahead with their business and that there was no word of any shortage of funding to him or to his men to enable them to continue their investigations. He said he hoped to carry them through to a fruitful end.

I listen to some of the talk shows at the weekend that interviewed some people who have been very much involved in speculation of the wildest nature and they get a great hearing, although not when the e-mails come in. They want to tell their story but I wonder what is the point of that because it only enrages people further.

I commend the Minister's speech earlier and support the work the Government has undertaken in the past two years.

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