Taoiseach Enda Kenny reiterated his view that a banking inquiry should be conducted by a parliamentary committee.

He said he was not interested in weak, secret investigations that produced nothing. “What the people want is that justice be seen to be done.’’

Mr Kenny said he did not wish to have anything to do with 10-year investigations that would make lawyers millionaires and bring nobody to account.“We should set up a properly structured and resourced parliamentary inquiry to get on with the work it can do.’’

He said that kind of inquiry could not do work that would put people behind bars as it was the criminal law and a judge and jury that convicted people who might be brought before the courts.

Mr Kenny said no firm decision had been made on having a further referendum to give politicians extra powers to conduct formal inquiries.

Tribunals
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin repeated his view that the Tribunal of Inquiry Bill 2005, which provided for a radically different version of the tribunals held in the past, was a model that could hold bankers to account.

He claimed the Government had given bankers an additional power to put pressure on people in mortgage arrears. It had changed legislation to give banks greater powers to repossess family homes without conditions attached.

Mr Kenny said Mr Martin’s intervention was a pathetic attempt at political opportunism. Mr Martin knew the licensed regulator of the banks was the Central Bank, and that conditions and attitude had changed entirely from his time in government.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if there were tapes from Irish Nationwide, Irish Life & Permanent, EBS, AIB and Bank of Ireland. "Since he is stating this parliament needs to know all the answers, he should please ask somebody for the answers."

He said the Taoiseach would have noted that the international media was awash with justifiable and scathing criticism of the Fianna Fáil and current governments.

Relevant files
Mr Kenny said he had asked for the relevant files on the banks but there were no papers.

When Mr Adams insisted there were, the Taoiseach said what was available was meaningless. “There is nothing but empty space. We need a parliamentary inquiry to call before it the relevant people, including Deputy Martin, who was a Minister at the time when the incorporeal meetings were held, and ask them to give us their best in recollection.’’