Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports this motion. The Minister of State said that the people of Ireland have suffered as a result of the banking crisis. As we all know, that is probably the understatement of the century. The word "suffered" does not do justice to what the people have undergone over the past number of years as a result of the crisis or to what has come out since then.

We support the motion. The Government has sat on the issue for the past number of years, but public opinion has now forced its hand. It is approaching seven years since the first signs of the crisis appeared and in that time we have had four reports into the period, countless inches and columns of newspaper reports, books and television programmes. Almost everyone is an expert on the issue at this stage and can articulate clearly what happened. We are an educated citizenry on the financial and banking crisis and now at last, the Oireachtas is set to examine what happened over that period in a public way and to question those people involved at the time.

This motion involves the technical setting up of the committee and leaves much of the nitty gritty deals to the members of the committee in the context of its terms of reference and rules. In the Dáil, Sinn Féin has nominated Deputy Pearse Doherty, our spokesman on finance, to the inquiry and I am confident he will be thorough and fair in his actions at all points as a member of the committee. As some Members have said, we need to be honest about what this inquiry can deliver. It will not be a substitute for a criminal investigation into those who presided over the banking crisis nor a substitute for convictions of bankers or jail sentences for those whose greed and incompetence brought the State to its knees, whether bankers, politicians, spectators or developers. It will not make up for the mistakes of the past nor lift the burden from the people either.

The Minister of State said in his speech that the Irish nation suffered the shame and indignity of having to be bailed out. It was not just that and the shame of the troika being brought in, but every day Irish people are suffering the shame and indignity of being evicted from their homes, having to seek emergency accommodation, having to beg for social welfare, having their medical cards taken from them and having to fight to get their sick children into hospitals. This is the real shame and indignity resulting from the banking and financial crisis. No inquiry nor anything we can do can make up for this.

There has not been much progress to date on recapitalising our pillar bank debt through the ESM, despite the announcement made in 2011 of the seismic shift and a game change. Formalising the Anglo debt as sovereign debt has brought a burden for future generations of a debt that is not theirs. This will affect children who are not even born yet. An ESRI report has shown that young people and children suffered most deprivation during the recession. When we consider the amount of the debt burden for them in the future, what effect will this have on them considering the already disproportionate and unequal effect of the recession on young people and children?

We support the motion and we will play a full role in the committee and ask the questions the people want us to ask and which need to be asked. There is an issue with regard to empowering the committee to compel witnesses to come forward so as to get down to the business of establishing the truth. We need the full co-operation of all parties involved in that regard, including the various sheltered accounting bodies and firms that have played a central role and which are still involved with many of our banks.

The Minister of State is here on behalf of the Taoiseach. What are his thoughts on a recent reply from the ECB to my party colleague, Martina Anderson, MEP, in which the ECB expressed great alarm at the idea it had a role in the crisis, particularly its former president, Jean-Claude Trichet? Will the Taoiseach, as Head of the Government, insist that the November 2010 letter from Trichet to Brian Lenihan be released?