Alan Kelly (Labour)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

2.—(1) The Minister may, and shall if required to do so pursuant to a resolution under this section passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, apply to the High Court for an order under the Companies Acts for the appointment of one or more inspectors to investigate the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank, having regard in particular to the questions as to whether:

(a) its affairs have been conducted with intent to defraud its creditors or the creditors of any other person or otherwise for a fraudulent or unlawful purpose or in an unlawful manner or in a manner which is unfairly prejudicial to some part of its members, or that any actual or proposed act or omission of the company (including an act or omission on its behalf) was so prejudicial;

(b) persons connected with the management of its affairs have in connection therewith been guilty of fraud, misfeasance or other misconduct towards it or towards its members;

(c) that its members have not been given all the information relating to its affairs which they might reasonably expect; or

(d ) such additional grounds as the Minister specifies in his or her application to the High Court.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the Minister has all such powers as are necessary to enable him or her to apply to the High Court for an order of the kind referred to in that subsection and the High Court shall hear and determine that application as if the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001, in respect of applications concerning Anglo Irish Bank, vested those powers concurrently in the Minister and in the Director of Corporate Enforcement, so as to be capable of being exercised by either of them.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Minister is not required to make an application under that subsection if he notifies both Houses of the Oireachtas that the Director of Corporate Enforcement has applied to the High Court for an order under the Companies Acts for the appointment of one or more inspectors to investigate the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank.".

The Labour Party believes this amendment is essential. It aims that the Bill should provide for the appointment of an inspector to investigate what has gone on in Anglo Irish Bank. The methodology we propose is that the Minister should apply to the High Court for an order under the Companies Act for the appointment of one or more inspectors to investigate what has happened in this bank.

An inspector should specifically investigate the bank's affairs and how they have been conducted, examine whether the bank has tried to defraud its own creditors or its own members, examine whether persons connected with the management of affairs have been in any way guilty of fraud and whether members of the bank have been given enough information. The amendment would also provide other ministerial powers to make enforcements and directions in respect of an investigation.

It is critical that this amendment be supported. If, as in all likelihood, this Bill is passed tonight, this bank becomes ours tomorrow. Then we must start singing its praises. We must try to ensure that we get the bank to a level we want and we must take that responsibility seriously. We must do so, confident that we will get to the bottom of how it was we arrived here in the first place. Unless this amendment is passed, I do not believe many people will feel confident we will be able to do that.

The amendment specifically aims to arrive at the facts, namely, what is on the loan book, what types of loans there are, whether it is possible they will be paid back and how much toxic debt there is. It aims to find out who did what, particularly with regard to a particular investment strategy in the bank and how it was managed — I believe we all know what we are talking about — and how contracts for difference were conducted.

There are questions about the way the chairman concealed loans in the bank. There are further questions about the way share dealing was conducted in and around the time of the recapitalisation and bail out plan. In addition, we must find out how we got to this position and who made the critical decisions. We must examine the role of the auditor. We can learn from our past here because we have previous experience of occasions when auditors simply did not do their job.

The amendment aims to clean out the bank of those who are running it, if that is necessary. Most of all, it aims to ensure there is transparency with regard to the actions before us today in the Houses, in respect of this Bill. It aims to bring that transparency to the conduct of this bank in the recent past. If the bank is to be nationalised people will then know how we got here and will know that lessons can be learned for the future.