Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues in this House who are participating in the banking inquiry. They come from all sides of the House and are doing an exceptionally good job.

I also commend the economists and others who are advising, and are prepared to advise, the banking inquiry free of charge because they have realised the importance of the work being done by the banking inquiry. I regret, however, that some members of the legal profession who are providing advice to the banking inquiry see fit to charge this State enough sums of money for their work and at an hourly rate. These people are extremely capable and their expertise is required and essential to ensure the banking inquiry gets the best possible legal opinion that the State can provide. I call on them to reduce and, if possible, waive their fees in the public interest because this inquiry is important. As referenced here already, other inquiries have cost hundreds of millions of euro. The Oireachtas banking inquiry has the potential to set a precedent and create a model for how these types of inquiries can take place into the future. The legal profession, along with economists, accountants and other people, should do the State some service and make their expertise available to the committee free of charge. We are lucky to have people like Senator Barrett and others from this House and people from the other House, on the inquiry. I have no doubt that they are going not just the extra mile but the extra miles to ensure that the inquiry unearths the truth. I hope we will have the correct narrative that will go into our history books and will benefit future generations thus ensuring we know what went on during those days.