Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

After 18 months of procrastination on the Bill, I welcome that it is before the House. The referendum on granting more powers to the Oireachtas and compelling witnesses to come forward was lost in November 2011. This was unfortunate in that it would have advanced the timing of this legislation. At the time, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, carried out an investigation as to the reasons the referendum was lost. It appears people were genuinely confused and concerned at some of the proposals being brought forward. All of this was exacerbated by the legal profession, given several Attorneys General opposed it vigorously, and this certainly put an element of doubt in the minds of people.

Unfortunately, that was the chief reason for its failure. Anyway, we are where we are at this point. We are finally about to introduce the legislation which will at least give specific power to the Oireachtas to hold a sworn inquiry. Commencing an inquiry into the dubious bank guarantee which has so many unanswered questions is certainly not before time. The US, Iceland and the UK are countries where such sworn public inquiries have been held in the recent past. There was no dithering or undue delay in these countries about examining financial misdemeanours within their jurisdictions swiftly, fairly and competently.

There has been general bewilderment, dismay and annoyance among the general public about why these matters were not addressed more expeditiously. The alleged perpetrators who have contributed in no small way to bringing this country to its knees with the consequent loss of economic sovereignty have some very serious matters to clarify. It is an extreme case of belated action and the appetite and urgency of the public seem to have abated because in the meantime, citizens have taken the full brunt of the hardships of austerity and very harsh budgets over the past five years. In respect of rescuing reckless banks, it was a time where the nod and the wink was the order of the day and regulation and regulatory powers were soft or non-existent.

The extent of the Oireachtas inquiry hopefully facilitated through this Bill must be extended to involve the participation of witnesses from outside the State, particularly officials and personnel from the European Central Bank, ECB, whose knowledge and revelations regarding the events of 29 to 30 September 2008 will be crucial to the verification of the events. Perhaps a mechanism can be included in this Bill whereby it would be mandatory for the ECB to provide all relevant documentation pertaining to that era. The presence of the ECB managerial officials at an Oireachtas inquiry is also paramount. Then and only then will we be in a position to get the unvarnished facts regarding the events that led to the arrival of the troika on 20 November 2010.

Nearer to home, it is important that all files and other relevant information from the Department of Finance be accessible to the inquiry. This Bill must address any deficiencies in the legalities that may obstruct access to these vital documents. We have seen the recent debacle where John Moran, the Secretary General of the Department of Finance, refused to hand over 9,000 files on the collapse of the banks to the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts. This gives a very clear signal of non co-operation by an arm of the State to enable the elected legislators of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann to act on behalf of the citizens. This is an appalling situation, to put it mildly, and is certainly an affront to our democracy.

It should be possible within this Bill to make provision that in an Oireachtas inquiry into matters as important as this, issues covered by Cabinet confidentiality, which up to now have been protected, would be made available to such an inquiry. We should also address this matter retrospectively within the legislation for the sake of transparency. Where there is an exceptional inquiry, Cabinet confidentiality must be opened up.

I mentioned the ECB earlier. I believe the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance can jointly pursue on behalf of the Government and people of Ireland vital documentation relating to ECB dealings with Ireland during the banking crisis, the events leading up to the troika bailout and the recent liquidation of the IBRC. Relative to the size of our country and economy, the cost of €62 billion is by far the most expensive relative to GDP among the more developed world economies. So far, we have had some token examinations of the issues. The previous Government commissioned Klaus Regling and Max Watson to conduct a review of the macro-economic factors behind the banking collapse. There was a report into the failure of regulation by the governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan. Another such report was produced on the shortcomings of the Department of Finance. Another report was the Nyberg report, which was to be a very significant and in-depth report into the crisis and the banks themselves. Unfortunately, it did not meet its potential. Although it had the potential to be the most potent, Mr. Nyberg's report ended up being the most disappointing. Even at this stage, John Moran is withholding some vital documentation relating to the Nyberg report.

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