The Taoiseach has said he will ask European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi to attend the banking inquiry.

Enda Kenny was responding, amid heated Dáil exchanges, to Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, who described the Taoiseach as a "crawler'' on the issue.

“I would wish that he would attend… I don’t have the authority to require him to attend,’’ said Mr Kenny.

Ms McDonald said the ECB had shown an utter disregard for the people and the economy of the Irish State.

“We also now know, if we did not know before, that you are a crawler, that you are not prepared to call that very institution to account,’’ she said.

She said Mr Kenny was not, “heaven forbid, the messenger boy of Mario Draghi… you are the Taoiseach of this country and the people expect you to stand by them’’.

Mr Kenny replied: "Methinks the deputy is stung because of her party's refusal to accept responsibility in respect of dealing with Northern Ireland issues.''

He said if Ms McDonald spoke about crawling, he could remind her of a few things very quickly, “but I won’t do so here (the Dáil)”.