Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be able to speak on this matter, as one who was here on the night we voted for the bank bailout. It is the worst political decision I have ever made in my life. I have said that countless times. I suppose I will not be forgiven by people. I will not forgive myself, because it was a con job. Reckless behaviour went on, and unfortunately, it is still going on. On the night that NAMA was set up, I said that it was like a wild animal released in the woods. Nobody had any idea where it would end up. I am not saying that I am a prophet, but my God, how right I was, when we saw what went on and what happened with Project Eagle. I named the case of the Clonmel Arms Hotel Project Jackdaw, because that it what it was. The owner was able to get it back again when a new owner wanted to buy it. Within five minutes he put in the bid. A phone call came from agents working for NAMA to tell him that somebody else was interested in this business. The corruption and skullduggery that went on inside those organisations was shocking. It is still going on. Fool me once and it is my fault, but fool me twice and it is your fault. The people are aghast. The people are facing this winter with no heat. They are having to choose between buying food, heating their homes or buying clothes for their children. They are extremely irritated and annoyed. Would you blame them? The Government has taken them for porkies. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been in power for the last God knows how many years - ten, 12 or 15 - since 2011. Now the Green Party is dictating policy to put people in penury. All the while, these tribunals are going on. They are only fodder machines that are creating fodder for the barristers, solicitors, legal eagles and the whole lot that are out there. It is a downright disgrace that it costs this kind of money to prove nothing and to tell us all what we already knew. It is shameful, corrupt, disgraceful and disgusting.

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