James Carroll (Fianna Fail)

I welcome Paschal Mooney's re-entry to the Oireachtas as a Senator. I was told by an usher today that I am now the third newest Member of the 23rd Seanad, after only six weeks in the House, and this is something of a shock and surprise. I reiterate the call made by numerous Members as regards a debate on the commission of inquiry into banking. It is sheer political opportunism by the Opposition to continually dismiss the commission and discredit its findings as a whitewash. This is cheap political points scoring which takes away from the credibility of this House and the Lower House. As the Taoiseach said this morning, we have already debated ad infinitum many issues in this respect. It is not good enough to have an Oireachtas committee which merely facilitates the appearance of the Taoiseach before it so that the Opposition can start to batter him from all angles and try to discredit him.