David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The delay has nothing to do with Fianna Fáil, the Independents or Sinn Féin but is the clear responsibility of the two Government parties which made a mess of the process. Yesterday, the Taoiseach let the cat out of the bag when he said it was about ensuring the Government had a majority. This was never meant to be the intention of the banking inquiry. The Taoiseach has created an even bigger hole for the Government and I support the amendment to the Order of Business asking him to come here and account for himself and what he said. A partisan banking inquiry would not have the confidence and support of the people outside this Chamber. The vast majority of citizens are not interested in which groupings have a majority on the inquiry but want the politicians to get down to the business of doing the work of the inquiry as quickly as possible.

Maybe the Leader can outline what is happening, why it is still being held up and whether he will proceed. It is ironic that the two committees which have messed up are among the few committees without a Sinn Féin representative. We were excluded from the Committee of Selection and the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, CPP, because of rules on group sizes made up by Government parties. This is entirely the making of the Leader and the Government Members. He must sort it out as quickly as possible and let us get the banking inquiry up and running, which is in the interests of everybody.