Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will very much contribute to that process but the reality is that the House is controlled by the Executive and therefore the terms of reference will, in essence, be decided by the Cabinet. Let us be honest with people about that. Nobody wants to embark on an inquiry which would in any way compromise important criminal investigations. We all take that as a given, so whatever form of inquiry is established, among its priorities will have to be the requirement to ensure that criminal prosecutions are not in any way undermined.

I wish to ask the Minister about today's revelations from Governor Honohan's interview. I have been greatly surprised by the fact that the Central Bank is only now, because of the revelations, examining the possibility that it was deliberately misled by Anglo Irish Bank in the lead-up to the bank guarantee decision in 2008. Can the Minister confirm that the Central Bank had no knowledge of, or access to, these tapes until they were publicly aired by the Irish Independent?

The fundamental question which emerged in the tapes last Monday for everybody to hear, was whether or not the State was deliberately misled. Has that only come to the fore now and did the Central Bank have no knowledge of, or access to, the tapes until they were publicly aired?

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