Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I support those who have raised the banking issues. I wish to take a slightly different angle. We should have a debate on a number of regulatory authorities, including the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The discovery of the scandal at AIB came about as a result of a whistleblower rather than anything the regulatory authority did. The Government seems to have a propensity to establish these authorities. Last week I called for a debate on the National Roads Authority, which has a number of issues that should be addressed. Exorbitant legal fees have never been tackled by the Competition Authority. We should have a debate perhaps on individual authorities and perhaps on the broader issue of the propensity of the Executive to establish authorities to distance functions from itself.

I support the call for a debate on Iraq, which is overdue. I would like to see a stronger condemnatory approach taken by the Government, particularly towards——