Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I agree with much of what Senator O'Toole said in regard to where we should go in further debates on that issue. However, we need some time limited parliamentary oversight. Some of it should have occurred already. I ask the Leader of the House, with the convening of the 24th Seanad, to ensure that there is a Seanad input to that, that it is the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service rather than the select committee. Members of this House, however it will be constituted, will have an important role to play in that.

Senator O'Toole is correct that the rezoning councillors and the pornography of property supplements in our national newspapers added to the mix that was the madness of the property boom and the Celtic tiger. While it is easy to hold debates on events such as the bank guarantee and the establishment of NAMA, we have yet to hold a national conversation about the endemic greed that brought about the crisis and how we will have to deal with it, regardless of who was in Government. As long as my party is represented in this House, we will co-operate with the Government in seeking the best way to do that. I concur with Senator O'Toole that we cannot conduct our investigation by way of star chamber but a number of questions remain to be addressed in this area. If we answer these questions honestly we will realise how diffuse is the blame for what happened.

I ask the Leader to arrange debates on key legislation which will impact on how we develop from here. For example, it would be a retrograde step in Irish politics to roll back the recent major revision of planning legislation. To do that would see the return of the bagman in Irish politics. That is the type of thinking which brought us to our current position and that is what we need to avoid in the future.

We need to commit ourselves in the future in terms of a representative assembly. I am conscious that those of us who are still candidates in the election that will be counted next week must be conscious of not biting the hand that feeds us. Regardless of whether the debate centres on whether there should be a Seanad in the future, I would like to see all Members of this House and everyone involved in Irish public life saying that if the House is to continue it can never be elected in this form again. There must be a different form of election which has greater public involvement and accountability. I hope that is where the debate goes when the referendum is eventually held.