Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is urgent and important that we have a debate on the new mortgage code of conduct before the summer recess. Anything that threatens people's homes must be fully scrutinised and debated in this House. That is our job. The Irish people have lost enough. To say that the revelations in the Anglo Irish Bank tapes have angered the public is an understatement. We must give people a hand here. If this mortgage code of conduct will not help them to hold onto their homes, we must act for them and ensure they keep them. Let us have that debate before the summer recess.

With regard to the Anglo Irish Bank tapes, the Minister for Finance must make a clear statement on the current position with the prosecutions by the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, of people who caused the collapse and perhaps covered up matters. Second, he should make a clear statement on the banking inquiry. Will the two run in parallel? We need more facts. I am not concerned about the truth in this issue. The Irish people deserve the truth and so does the world. As a nation, we are big enough and have enough self esteem for the truth. If this information must leak out, so be it. I also believe that what is on those tapes is contemptuous, but we should not worry about that. Let us get to the truth and, above all, let things happen in a timely fashion. The evidence has been with the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the DPP for almost four years but, to date, there has been no action. If it is due to a lack of resources, let us pump them into this. The Irish people want and deserve justice in this matter.