Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Excuse me. The courts are independent and the courts will bring people to justice. That is their job and they will do their job. I, for one, have no intention of trying to influence them. Perhaps that is the Fianna Fáil style, although I am unsure. All I can say is that it is our responsibility.

I am pleased to welcome the inquiry with all its flaws. It is no harm to say that. Of course it will not bring all the results we would like. Of course we will not get the A to Z of everything that happened that night, the previous night, the following night and whether they ate chips or curry. That simply will not happen. At the least, we will do our best and we will show that people can come into the inquiry. Then, if they say they cannot remember what happened that night, then the whole country will hear it. That will be a good thing because then we can decide whether they are telling the truth about not remembering it or whether they are simply suiting themselves by not remembering. At the very least, the public will see it. As Senator Ó Domhnaill knows well, the public are not stupid.

I welcome the inquiry. I hope that the terms of reference will be struck fairly. I hope they will take into account something of the wider picture, not least our relationship with the European Central Bank and the European Commission, because that is a strong and a real part of this story.

Any inquiry that does not extend to that, would be a poorer inquiry as a result.

Even before it has started, many commentators have written and spoken about this inquiry. I am inclined to agree with the comment made by John Downing, that if we do not have an inquiry, we will be drawn into what he describes as the culture of fatalism. I am inclined to believe that as parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to try to restore some of the faith in politics that has been lost. We do not get things right every day, but we do our best. This inquiry is some small part towards doing our best, in calling people to account on behalf of the public. This is our job and whoever of us is on the committee will do their best.