Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I shall third it because we need a debate on the banking sector. I was unaware that Senator Crown had seconded the proposal which is fine.

Sinn Féin's record in the House on these issues has been very clear. We have not supported the bailout, we did not support the Personal Insolvency Bill and we did not support turning of bank debt into sovereign debt even though we had to sit through the night to debate it here.

The revelations over the past couple of days are appalling but unsurprising to many people because it was part of banking culture. A number of questions need to be asked. Why was such a culture allowed to develop in the first place? What was happening from a regulation point of view? Why was a decision made without documentation or further information being made available? Was either available? If so, why was it not acted on? How did the tapes get into the public domain? People want to know why people have not been brought before the courts and if there are issues that can lead to prosecution then why have people not been prosecuted.

The Seanad still exists and is the perfect forum to discuss and debate these issues in great detail. It is important that we do so.