Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Basil McCrea, MLA, and Mr. John McCallister, MLA. Their hospitality in Stormont is so good that it will be hard for us to live up to that standard.

Will the Leader take account of what happened in the House last night in addressing the issue of bank regulation? The Department of Finance and the Central Bank closed ranks against even the mildest reforms in banking regulation in this country, as if the banks had not done enough harm to us. That illustrates the direction in which the banking inquiry should go. The Fianna Fáil part is done. It lost 58 seats and there are 42 new Members of the Seanad. The real part is to examine the collusion with the Department of Finance, the way the Department treated its whistleblowers and its refusal to countenance any form of bank regulation that would take account of reform based on the whistleblowing or, indeed, regulation that would take into account the views of the National Competitiveness Council or the Competition Authority. This is about bankers running banks of the type that got us into so much trouble. We must get away from that. It should not be a political witch hunt but it must concern the officials and the alleged banking regulation we had in the past, which caused so many problems in this country. We must achieve that emphasis because, as we saw last night, the officials will not do it of their own volition. The House must insist that we examine their role in the disastrous events of September 2008.

The independence of the Members on these benches is a highly prized part of this Seanad. It will be replaced by committees, according to the Taoiseach, but, as we know from events today, if one does not agree with the Taoiseach, one will be expelled from committees-----