Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister knows, I have been pursuing this vigorously. I am eager to ascertain the status of the public banking investigation carried out by the Government. The Minister's Department and the Department of Finance have recently completed a report examining whether a model of community or public banking could work here. The Minister said it will be published in the coming weeks and that he is engaged with Irish Rural Link and the Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation, which is the international development wing of the German Sparkassen public banks. I am eager to ascertain what progress has been made. I acknowledge the Minister is on top of it and is supportive but I do not trust the Department of Finance.

See this speech in context