Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----without anyone having a view on it, the bank could be held to account. The bank could refuse to show up – God love it if it did – but I am sure Senator Norris would let it know that not showing up would be detrimental to its public relations. Regardless of the fact that we saved the bank from extinction – for good or ill – no organisation should be beyond the scrutiny of the Oireachtas for its political actions, which can be judged to be such when one sees what is happening.This is not isolated instance in Ireland. Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach should table a motion. If the motion is passed then we can hear what Members have to say. A meeting might only take half an hour and the friends of Palestinian group can be invited to attend. The committee has a huge workload in terms of the budget. I am concerned about the principle behind the motion and not the relatively small amount of money involved.

My party has tabled an amendment. The reason we have not condemned the Senator's motion is because we do not have all of the facts. It would be good if the committee could hear all of the facts. A meeting would allow everyone to hear what the Bank of Ireland had to say for itself and whether it can justify its actions. I am pretty sure that it cannot.