Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

Yesterday the chairman and the chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. As everybody now knows, the chief executive, Mr. Mike Aynsley, stated at the meeting that the lion's share of the €22 billion put into the bank by the taxpayer would never be seen again. There are many more billions of euro that will not be seen again. The members of the committee were also told that the investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement would not be lengthened because of the bank's decision to claim privilege on certain documents. These two comments will obviously generate a lot of concern throughout the country, given the enormous sums of money involved and the impact of what is effectively the withdrawal of the €22 billion from constructive use in the economy. It cannot now be used for the development of badly needed services or in addressing the issues we discussed last night.

I am concerned that the Taoiseach indicated very clearly in the Dáil yesterday his refusal to broaden the terms of reference of the banking inquiry. We must take note of what Dr. Michael Somers, the former head of the National Treasury Management Agency, had to say about this. We should also listen to what Professor Patrick Honohan is saying about it.

The editorial in The Irish Times today states:

What is clear is that if the Government is serious about gaining a better understanding of what went wrong in order to underpin more effective policymaking in the future then it would be advised to have a second look at the terms of reference and ensure the commission is more clearly focused before it gets under way in earnest.

When one reads the comments in the editorial on the Government's terms of reference, one notes that they are very disturbing. If we have learned anything from the two reports issued, it is surely that we need to examine very carefully what happened. As I said yesterday and the day before, the inquiry needs to be transparent and held in public. It must be comprehensive. It appears from what is happening that the Government is not going down this route and is unwilling to respond to the calls of many experts, particularly the two key experts I have mentioned, and that it is refusing to re-examine the terms of reference of the commission of inquiry. This is very serious. Will this House have an opportunity to discuss the terms of reference? Will the Government take on board the advice of the Governor of the Central Bank and Dr. Michael Somers? I ask that we have an opportunity to discuss the terms of reference in the House.