Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There were millions lost on Project Eagle. The country is weary and fed up and I think we are weary and fed up getting up day after day, fed up at perceived skullduggery at all levels of this country. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has accelerated this. He needs to understand, and he seems to misjudge, the anger and ire of citizens who are faced with a tsunami of corruption, cronyism and those who believe they are untouchable. It is clear that the Minister has gone on the defensive. As an experienced politician he should have known to never have met with individuals from Cerberus, especially on the eve of the closing date for bids for Project Eagle. It is incredible. What is even more incredible is the Minister's sense of omnipotence and grandiosity in his threat to injunct the Committee of Public Accounts for doing its job.He attempted to insult my colleague, Deputy Cullinane, branding him and my party fibbers. He is acting like a petulant teenager. This is a slur on the Committee of Public Accounts. The public looks to the Committee of Public Accounts and trusts it. It is the only way ordinary citizens have to get redress and to raise issues of corruption and skulduggery in this beleaguered State. It is a pity he is following in the footsteps of Denis O'Brien, Angela Kerins et alin attempting to strangle and smother the democracy of this country.