Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to join in the words of congratulations extended to the Leader on the occasion of his son, John, being elected Mayor of Waterford. I also congratulate my colleagues in Galway on their success. Councillor Pádraig Conneely has been elected Mayor of Galway City and Councillor Liam Carroll has been elected Mayor of Galway County.

I applaud journalist Paul Williams and the Irish Independent for the fantastic service that they have done the State in blowing open the Anglo Irish debacle. They have exposed and informed the public about the contents of the taped conversations. The public is rightly angered and I met some of them in my local newsagent this morning before I left Ballinasloe. They are angry about the contents of the tapes. As Senator Crown has said, they are angry about the consequences that stemmed from the actions of those bankers. I call for the immediate establishment of a robust and cost-effective inquiry that will examine every aspect of the banking debacle over the past decade. We have all seen the effects of light touch regulation when it comes to possible criminality and how close bankers are to the political system. The issue needs to be thoroughly investigated but quickly. I renew my call on the Leader to arrange a debate with the Minister for Finance but I accept that he will not be available today.

However, it would be important for the Minister to have a debate with Members on current practices within the banking sector because I have been inundated with complaints from customers about the level of charging within the banks. Such customers are paying for the misdemeanours of bankers in the past and small businesses are being absolutely crucified with banking charges and poor levels of service within the banking system. Customers and small shops that deal with a lot of coins and currency cannot get the level of service from banks they had come to expect but are being charged outrageous amounts of money and are being obliged to present themselves at a time that suits the bank and not a time that suits them.