Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Although I acknowledge the culture has improved immeasurably in recent years, if we had a culture of openness and transparency here, there would be no need for whistleblowers or legislation that would oblige the exposure of information which has remained hidden for too long. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the situation in our financial services sector and the difficulties we are obliged to deal with due to that lack of openness and transparency.

These statements are being made at a very important time. We are awaiting the publication of the reports which have already been presented of Mr. Regling and Mr. Watson and of the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan, on the circumstances surrounding the collapse of our banking sector. I expect these to be forthright and honest reports and the public debate will be assisted by their publication. That said, these reports are preliminary and are meant to inform the tribunal of inquiry into the banking system which will follow. In making these statements it is important we call for that inquiry to be as open and public as possible. I believe it will predominantly be public, although elements will be private and confidential, being linked to commercial interests and so forth. The model in place in the US Congress which has been promoted by the Governor of the Central Bank is the one we should follow. I look forward to decisions being made in the next few weeks that will allow such a tribunal to be held.

I share the frustration of many Members regarding the lack of legislation and the inability to assist or engender a culture of whistleblowing in this country. There has been conflicting legal advice as to whether this can be done in one over-arching legislative measure, in a number of measures, through some form of halfway house with a measure to deal with the public service in general and another to cover the financial institutions under the State guarantee, or by having degrees of State ownership. It must be done to the largest scale and depth possible and as quickly as possible. Often it is not the fact that there are crimes that are unaccounted for, which unfortunately there are, but the element of cover-up and the lack of ability to get the information that causes greater public concern than the nature of the crime itself. The culture that allows that to happen is one that generates fear and disbelief among the population, and the political system cannot allow that to occur any longer.

Like other speakers, I believe we are being too cautious and led by legalities in this area. There is a type of coquettishness about dealing with the issue, on which we must put a brake. Ultimately, there are things we do not know, and we do not know them because the individuals who have caused the situations are not being open and honest and those around them do not have the appropriate degree of legal protection that would allow agencies of the State to reveal these issues properly. Others will ask: "If not by now, when?" The time we are living in and the nature of the economic shock we have experienced in terms of the public expenditure crisis and the collapse of the banking system will be seen in retrospect to be an important time for this country. It is the opportunity out of a crisis that our political system needs to make. If we do not make these changes now and acknowledge that there have been huge failings in this area which need to be corrected in the very short term, we will have let the country down to an even greater extent than the circumstances that caused the financial and economic crisis in this country.

After making these statements today I ask that there be some resolve to have the legislation more all-embracing and brought before both Houses of the Oireachtas at the earliest opportunity. It must be informed by events at the tribunal of inquiry into the banking system, but the Government has determined a short life span of six months for that tribunal. If we go into the next general election with these issues still being discussed, it will be a huge failure of the political system. There must be legislation in place and adequate protection. That protection under the legislation must bring about the transparency that is so badly lacking in our financial services. Given the scale of resources, which this country does not have, being pumped into resuscitating and perhaps unnaturally keeping alive elements of our financial services, if it is not accompanied by appropriate legislation in the area of transparency and whistleblowing, it will be a further waste, and a criminal waste at that, of public resources. That cannot and should not happen.