Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I regret that, again, the Minister had to be politically partisan in his opening remarks. What he just stated in his opening remarks was exactly what the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, said during the Private Members' debate and in answer to a parliamentary question to me some time back. He had to come to the House and, humiliatingly, apologise. He also wrote to me to apologise because the assertion that nothing happened until after March 2012 was wrong. Nevertheless, the Minister comes in and says it again. I know from my own sources that there was a relationship between the Department of Finance and Anglo Irish Bank after it was nationalised going right back to 2009. We know now that there were board minutes going right back. The Minister should please not repeat the falsehood that was articulated in the House a week or two ago.

We have sought to be constructive here and we met with the Minister for Finance to get the terms of reference right. We understand that we are not going to get everything, but the language was tortuous. I must be honest with the Minister and say I would like to think the term "contractual obligation" covers the verbal assurances that Mr. O'Brien says he got from Mr. Aynsley and others, but I am not certain. I have preliminary legal advice, but I am not certain and the House deserves certainty on that point. Are loan agreements that might have taken place under the old Anglo Irish Bank outside the relevant period or not? Given the controversy that has arisen, we cannot let this hang. There is an absolute necessity for the Government to make it clear in writing that this issue is covered within the terms of reference. This issue also underlines the need for an interim report by the end of October as there are a lot of issues hanging out there now. They cannot hang out there forever. I refer to the Siteserv issue and the issue of the loan extension.

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