Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise if I caused any delay. We welcome the motion, the content of which has been discussed since the Government came to power, and its hand has eventually been forced by public opinion. It is hard to believe, especially by the people who have suffered, but it is approaching seven years since the first signs of this crisis became visible. As pointed out by many commentators, we have had four reports dealing with the events of the period, with countless inches of newspaper column space. We have also had books and television programmes produced about it, with experts coming and going. We have heard much but seem to know very little about what happened in the period. Finally, it appears the Oireachtas, the elected Members of the people, are set to examine what happened over that time, and I hope the required information will eventually emerge.

Many people outside do not believe the truth will ever emerge, and they think facts will be covered up, information will be lacking and people will not remember circumstances. The feeling is we will hear all sorts of excuses. I spoke to a group of people before coming to the Chamber and when I mentioned I would discuss this motion, I was told we would never get the truth of what happened. We are approaching this on the assumption that many sound people will be part of this committee, and I hope the truth will finally emerge so we can get a sense of what decisions were made and the reasons behind them.

This motion is a technical setting up of the committee and leaves the nitty-gritty of the detail of terms of references and house rules to the committee. My party has nominated Deputy Pearse Doherty, our finance spokesperson, to the committee. He will be thorough and fair in his actions at all points of the committee work. We need to be honest about what this bank inquiry can deliver, as it will be no substitute for criminal investigations into those who presided over the banking crisis and fall-out which destroyed so many families and individuals. It will certainly be no substitute for convictions of bankers and prison sentences for those whose greed, avarice and incompetence brought this State to its knees; these people include bankers, politicians, speculators and developers. Nor will any inquiry make up for the mistakes of the past or lift the unjust burden from the people. We are still paying for Fianna Fáil's incompetence and Labour and Fine Gael's blind commitment to that policy of not standing up for Ireland and its people. That is a matter for the inquiry to investigate and I hope the facts will emerge.

There has been no progress whatsoever on recapitalising our pillar bank debt through the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, despite the Government's announcement in June 2011 of a "game changer" and a "seismic shift". Additionally, this Government has formalised as sovereign the toxic Anglo Irish Bank debt and burdened future generations with a debt that is not the people's, never mind that of people not yet born. The country as a whole and small and medium enterprises and households in particular are still drowning in debt and this Government has no plan to deal with it. Rating agency Fitch released a report today indicating Irish mortgage debt is at its highest peak yet. Six years into this crisis and householders are still bearing the brunt of bad decisions.

There is a very cruel irony in thousands of people now living under the threat of eviction or so-called voluntary surrender because of the economic collapse caused to some degree by some of the same banks that are now sending thousands of letters to working people across this State telling them they must leave their home. We must always remember the human effects that the banking crisis has brought us, and let us not pretend that we would be facing water charges, the universal social charge, property and household charges now if there had been no banking bailout. If the Government goes ahead with its plan to bring in another €2 billion in cuts and taxes, we will reach the €32 billion mark in cuts and taxes under Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour. That is more or less the same amount of debt from Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide with which the people were burdened by Fianna Fáil, and now thanks to this Government we will be burdened with it for generations.

That is the context we must always remember. It is one of increasing poverty. I attended an event yesterday where I heard about 0.5% of an increase in the poverty rate. At the same time, supports for people in poverty are slowly being filleted, gutted and removed. There have been attacks on the community sector and people who worked with those at a disadvantage. We also have mass emigration, which is tearing the heart from rural Ireland in particular and 136,00 households which cannot pay their mortgages. It is the equivalent of one person leaving the State every six minutes because of a lack of hope, jobs or prospects. This context concerns people who are struggling to pay their bills or send their children to school who will now be asked to pay for the water they drink. That is not the fault of the banks but rather the fault of the two bad Governments we have had and their poor choices. Sinn Féin opposes austerity and will continue to oppose bad decisions and provide realistic alternatives. No banking inquiry will distract us from that. There is genuinely a better and fairer way and we have been joined by others in that analysis.

We support this motion and my party hopes to play a full role in the committee by asking the questions the people want to be asked. It needs to fully empowered to compel witnesses as necessary. To get to the truth we need the full co-operation of all parties, including the various sheltering account bodies and firms which played a central role.

I would particularly like to hear the Taoiseach's thoughts on a recent reply from the ECB to my party colleague Martina Anderson MEP, expressing great alarm at the idea of its role and in particular the role of former President Trichet in our crisis. Will An Taoiseach, as Head of this Government, insist that the November 2010 letter from Trichet to Brian Lenihan is released?

Many people want to know exactly what happened during that period. There is a great deal of cynicism in the general public about the prospect of a real inquiry that will get to the bottom of this matter. There is a feeling that those in power will protect their friends and those who were in power at that time. We have a huge responsibility. If we fail in this task people will never forgive us, particularly those who are suffering so much, who did not create the problem, played no part in it and who did not party day and night during the Celtic tiger period. We have a responsibility to those people, the working poor, who are carrying that unfair burden. Hopefully this banking inquiry will give them some answers. I look forward to the inquiry being set up. Like everyone else we will follow it on our TV screens, in this House and through the print media. People are crying out for answers and hopefully those answers will come.

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