Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. I hope the Minister will comment on what the former DPP stated because it came from a non-political source.

It is absolutely self-evident from the debate that we as a House, group and individuals are intrinsically biased. I echo what Deputy Kelleher had to say. It is quite obvious the banking issue and inquiry are already political footballs, whether we like it or not. We have made the case well here this morning for taking it elsewhere to a group of people or a judge who are self-evidently not intrinsically biased. The Minister states there is no automatic assumption of objective bias when he speaks about the former Supreme Court Justice, Catherine McGuinness, and the interesting word is "automatic". On this issue there is a proven political bias by what everyone here has already said on the issue. To suggest in the nitty-gritty of committee rooms Members of the Oireachtas suddenly become media shy is, I am afraid, unrealistic. The committees have all become politicised. Even the Committee on Public Accounts, of which I am a member, has, unfortunately, been patently politicised in recent weeks. This is the nature of politicians whether the Minister likes it or not.

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