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

The former president of the ECB does not seem inclined to come before the inquiry. While there is national responsibility and all the parties must be held to account, there is also international responsibility, particularly regarding the role of the ECB.

As a Fianna Fáil representative on the inquiry team, I am not going to protect anybody. When former members of the previous Government come before it, I will hold them to account without fear or favour, as I will do with every witness who comes before the inquiry. We must all go into the inquiry with that attitude. The Taoiseach must also be invited to come before the inquiry because, as Deputy Donnelly said, the role of the Dáil is critically important and he must substantiate his specific allegation about an axis of collusion between one bank and my party and be held to account for his assessment of policy from 2002 onwards, when he was leader of the Opposition.

This cannot be a one-dimensional inquiry.

We must all enter this process with a spirit of independence and impartiality. We will be charged with the very onerous responsibility of asking the right hard questions of those who come before us. My party will support the amendment before us that Deputy Peter Mathews be included on the inquiry team because of the very specific skill-set and experience that he has with banking matters. Embarking on an inquiry like this without somebody like Deputy Mathews would be akin to starting a match with the best player on the substitute bench. We must ensure we have the right and best people taking part in this inquiry from the outset.

I welcome that we are holding an inquiry, although this is not the type we would have established. I would much rather see the inquiry conducted outside the reach of politics by a High Court judge, for example, and public confidence in such an inquiry would be far greater as a result at a time when public confidence in politics generally is so low. We should be under no illusions in thinking those involved in the banks and public authorities will just come into the inquiry and ask what we want to know. They will of course bring their lawyers, as is their statutory right, and there is a major concern that this issue could lead to legal wrangling and get bogged down. We need to deal with that issue from the outset.

I wish Deputy Ciarán Lynch the very best in his role, as he will have a very tough job. He has been an effective chairman of the Oireachtas finance committee, although I reiterate my view and that of my party that the chairperson of this committee should be outside of politics, as should the entire inquiry. That horse has bolted and the decision has been made. We will co-operate fully with the inquiry and conduct our own questioning robustly and without fear or favour.

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