Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that people who were not party to the legal actions have been bearing the cost. We have all borne the costs because of the incompetence of accountants. The taxpayer is seen by lawyers as an easy mark. In my sector, if a lecturer or teacher did something wrong, it would be a much better mark to say he or she was acting on behalf of his or her college or an even better mark to say he or she was acting on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, in which case the lawyers have a target fund which is the entire national debt of the country.

Under the system the Minister of State described, the costs always seem to borne by the taxpayers rather than the principals. Perhaps that is what the courts decided but we advise the courts and we set the law. Should the misdemeanours and malpractices which we have seen in this sector not be borne by the people in it? We are trying to protect those who had nothing to do with these transactions but who have borne massive burdens since.

The people want us to do this because they have been taken to the cleaners by accountants and bankers. Any statement we can make that we disapprove of that system and that those involved in malpractice should be held to account, even five years later, would be some relief because people believe they have been made to shoulder all of the burden of this. We have not singled out the three or four groups which imposed most of the misery on this country. If they get away with it again, they will keep coming back which is a problem for the Minister of State as a young Minister, and no doubt a future Minister. This is a chance to spell it out for them on Report Stage. We do not want them coming back. The past five years have been a nightmare which we do not wish to repeat.