Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State.

I am pleased to support the motion to establish an Oireachtas committee to inquire into the banking crisis. Such an inquiry is long overdue. The Government is still picking up the pieces of a disastrous banking crisis and the disastrous response to it. The people have endured a deep recession as a consequence which has been very difficult, demanding and painful for many. People lost their jobs, some lost their homes and many of our young bright people were forced to emigrate. Thankfully, unemployment has fallen from 15% to almost 11.5%. More than 70,000 jobs were created in the past 12 months, but this can only be a start and ordinary people must realise the fruits of recovery. We cannot gloss over the past. We must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating them. The people are entitled to see and hear from those directly involved in this debacle.

I am glad that this House will have representation at the banking inquiry. There were suggestions, many months ago, that it would be a Dáil committee. I am, therefore, glad that the Government has decided that two Senators will be represented on the committee and I am sure we will choose two Members who will be very diligent in fulfilling their duties. It is important that both Houses of the Oireachtas be represented on the committee and it will be a long and arduous task to get to the truth which is what the people want. I hope the committee, when it reports, will provide the answers to the many questions Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill raised. They are the ones that have to be answered, in addition to many more, and the people deserve answers because they are paying for the sins of the past. I wish the committee well in its work. It will be a long and arduous task, but I am confident that the committee's members, irrespective of politics, will work together to get the answers the people deserve. I commend the motion to the House.