David Norris (Independent)

I raise the treatment of issues such as the apparent fact that wives of certain Central Bank officials travelled with their husbands. I am bored to death by this unimaginative muckraking. It is about time a stop was put to it. I raised this issue over the years and was universally told that it was sour grapes on my part and that I was raising the matter because I did not have a wife and was never likely to have one. It was pointed out to me that this practice was part of the culture, that banks insisted on having a veto on a suitable or unsuitable wife, that its staff had to do this that and the other, and join golf clubs. It was all part of the PR or expense account and these people were ambassadors for Ireland. This was a universal view. Now, however, some people who put forward that view are, in a hypocritical, pious and po-faced manner, raining down criticism on those who were part of the culture to which I refer.

As already stated, I raised this matter in the past and received no support in respect of the arguments I put forward. In such circumstances, I decided to move on. The attacks currently taking place are ahistorical and hysterical in nature. Let us identify the problem, rectify it and then move on. I have deeply committed friends who live on the clippings of tin in order that they might work for the human rights of people across the globe. The universal comment they make when they return here is that they cannot believe the viciousness, small-mindedness, muck-raking, envy and begrudgery in which people in this country engage. I am not stating that everyone engages in this type of behaviour.

A new approach must be taken. We must rectify this problem and then move on and do something positive. We should not be attempting to demoralise everyone with stories of this nature which are only used to sell newspapers, make columnists popular etc. Let us stop boring the knickers off the public. We must get a move on, get ahead and find a new story. I do not want to hear any more stories regarding people's wives accompanying them on trips. What we should do is rectify the situation.