Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I accept what he has said. My quarrel is that the Financial Regulator did not ask for them far earlier. He did not ask for them in 2008 when the crisis broke. He did not ask for them at the time he was saying all the banks were solvent. He did not look for these tapes at the time although the tapes were obviously in existence. That is an extraordinary situation and to do it under pressure from court orders is a completely different matter. His job is to regulate.

Will the Minister answer the second part of the question? What is happening now in terms of Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks at a similar time and since? Are there tapes in existence of which we should be aware? I am concerned, as are many Members of the Independent group, because the scope of the inquiry is limited up to the night of the guarantee. I cannot understand why that is essential. I can understand the reason the inquiry should concentrate on the guarantee when there are other matters which should be subject to investigation as well. There was one night here which all of us can remember, that is, the night of 7 February this year, to which the Minister referred, which saw the liquidation of Anglo Irish Bank. There was confusion and chaos that night because of what was happening and there were changes going on. I would have thought it would be helpful, balanced and less political if the Government was prepared for any inquiry to examine tapes and the facts and events that occurred on that night as well.

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