Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Government is determined to get to the bottom of what happened on the night of the bank guarantee by holding a banking inquiry. The objective is to ensure that we have the most effective mechanism to get to the truth of it. Our focus is on having the most robust form of inquiry within the confines of the Constitution and to shed as much light as we can on who was involved politically and administratively in the decision-making process that lumbered this State with a debt-ridden situation, which we are working hard to undo now. Since the outcome of last October's referendum, a substantial and detailed analysis has been carried out on the scope for Oireachtas inquiries operating within the parameters set out in the Abbeylara judgment. The main conclusions of this legal assessment are summarised in the letter from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts which issued following the Government's consideration of options for an Oireachtas inquiry on banking matters at the end of last month.

The technical problems at Ulster Bank are having a significant effect on the bank's personal and business customers throughout the country.

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