Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I am saddened to hear that the Minister of State will not accept this amendment. When he clarified why he will not do so, he basically said the Government will do the same thing it did with the HSE. This elected Parliament, which may be a partitionist Parliament, met for the first time 90 years ago tomorrow. The First Dáil was democratically elected. Its members were not afraid of accountability — they did not farm out their responsibilities to a body that would not be able to answer the questions of the elected representatives of the people of this State. The Minister of State's response was disappointing. Questions are being asked about the Government's appointees. The reality is that the people have no faith in the Government. Therefore, they will have no faith in its nominees.

It is clear from the banking crisis that the Government has lost the plot. It is engaging in U-turns time and time again. It is making it up as it goes along. If we are leaving it to the Minister for Finance to nominate people to deal with the toxic debt that has been accrued by Anglo Irish Bank, God help us. Every single citizen of the State is in greater debt as a result of the reckless actions of the Government's friends in the property development sector. It is important that the Minister of State rethinks this proposal. That is unlikely to happen, however, which is disappointing.