Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I believe the fact that Seánie FitzPatrick is walking away is not a blunder but a set-up that stinks to high heaven. There is a direct line between Seánie FitzPatrick's rotten, corrupt activities at Anglo Irish Bank and the families that are this week being sent to Garda stations or are sleeping in parks because no homes are available. The establishment in this country has contrived and conspired to ensure that he walks away free. It is an absolute scandal.

Consider the facts. An individual with no previous experience in criminal prosecutions is put in charge of the case. He has never even taken statements from witnesses in a criminal trial. In 2012, a judge presiding over the High Court's commercial list wonders why only 12 gardaí have been assigned to the case. However, nothing is done. Some gardaí are even moved to other cases. In March 2011, the Minister with responsibility for trade is told in a report that there are irregularities in the way the investigation is being carried out. In December 2010, a preliminary report was shown to the DPP making the DPP aware of the manner in which the statements were being taken, which was irregular. Mr. O'Connell told the court that the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement changed its practice since he gave evidence in 2015. Therefore, it knew, yet we only find this out now. To me, all of it stinks. Ministers, gardaí, judges and the DPP knew there were problems, but nothing was done and he walks away free because of the apparent blunders of one scapegoated individual. I do not believe it for a minute. It is rotten and absolutely stinks to high heaven.

As Deputy Coppinger said, the ordinary people on the street have been shafted by Mr. FitzPatrick and Anglo Irish Bank and the disaster inflicted on the country rolls on. The property assets that these people bankrolled with gambling and speculation were handed over to NAMA and then handed back to vulture funds and to some of the same developers who are now evicting people, resulting in a homelessness catastrophe. One of the chief architects of this walks away and we are told it is because of a mess up in the investigation. I do not believe it is primarily to do with resources in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, although that is part of it. That is part of the ongoing fact that there is one law for the rich and one law for the poor in this country. This situation is perpetuated and protected by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the establishment in this country. However, I think it is worse than that. I believe that many people in government and in the State knew that this was going to collapse and they let it collapse. They let it run to this point so that Mr. FitzPatrick would get off. The people have been shafted yet again. The economy and people's livelihoods were destroyed and we have a housing crisis that rolls directly on from it, yet one of the chief architects walks away. How convenient. If anyone believes that this is a blunder, a mistake, a resource issue or the result of one individual not being able to cope with the stress, he or she must be living in fantasy land.

I do not believe the Government's fake tears. It must have known it. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was not present but her Department must have known because we have been told that there was a report stating there were problems in how the evidence was gathered. It stinks to high heaven.

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