Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I thank all Deputies for their contributions which have been useful. I understand the frustration of some. I accept Deputy Arthur Spring's point that we need detailed consideration of this matter and I hope that can happen within the committee system of the House. I hope the committees, once they are up and running, will have new powers to carry out the in-depth analysis for which Deputies were crying out during the course of the debate.

The inquiry was started by the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, who is present in the Chamber and has led to the publication of three reports to date: the macro-level investigation into the causes of the crisis carried out by Messrs Regling and Watson; the investigation into the regulatory and financial and stability policy of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland between 2003 and 2008 carried out by the new Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan; and the report of the commission of investigation into the banking sector in Ireland carried out by Mr. Peter Nyberg.

Deputies have asked why the commission did not name individuals. While this is a matter in the first instance for Mr. Nyberg, the commission states in its report that it could not assess the actions or inactions of single individuals in organisations and did not think it was appropriate or fair to do so. However, there is no doubt that the Members of this House can and should do this. The responsibility falls on us to do so in the fullness of time. I invite Deputies not to cry at the darkness but to ensure, when the committee system is up and running, that we will have the accountability the people demand.

Deputy Sean Fleming referred to the need for European supervision of the banking system. The new European bodies - the European Systemic Risk Board, ESRB, and three new European supervisory authorities - are important for the future monitoring of financial stability and regulation of the European banking sector. The ESRB monitors and assesses risks to the stability of the financial system as a whole, providing early warning of systemic risks that may be building up and, where necessary, making recommendations for action to deal with these risks. Three new European supervisory authorities have been established for the banking, insurance and pensions, and securities sectors. These are all important in ensuring effective oversight. People will say this amounts to locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, but we do need to learn from the disastrous mistakes that have had and will have consequences for the people of this country and to ensure these mistakes are never repeated.

I would like to touch on the decision made to introduce the guarantee - probably the most disastrous decision made by any Government since the foundation of the State.

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