Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach has avoided my question entirely. I asked him what was the function of public interest directors. They may have been appointed by the previous Government, but they were retained in place by the Government. What is their function? It would only be news if Alan Dukes had said he would not go forward to any inquiry. He has stated the obvious. What is his function? These directors are public interest directors. To whom are they supposed to report in the public interest? It is very clear that they are not acting in the public interest. It is my strong suspicion that they are there to act in the political interest and keep the status quo intact. That is clear if we look at the record. I remember that the Taoiseach once said he would keep a report card on Ministers. He has got rid of that idea for Ministers, but surely if he looked at the report card on these folk, he would see there was room to change the system. We were told they had been appointed to act as watchdogs for ordinary decent citizens. That was the spin behind it, but, clearly, they are lapdogs. What is the Taoiseach going to do? Some of these directors are still in place. They are there on his watch and he cannot blame Fianna Fáil for them. They are described as public interest directors. I asked what their function was, but the Taoiseach did not answer. I would like him to answer that question now. Will he tell us to whom the public directors in place in the other banks are supposed to report back?

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