Banking Inquiry should be in public

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Banking inquiry would be damaged if carried out behind closed doors -

Fine Gael Deputy Leader & Finance Spokesperson, Richard Bruton TD, said the public has a right to see those involved in the banking crisis held accountable in public. Deputy Bruton said the effectiveness of such an inquiry would be damaged by holding it in private.

"The Dail must assert its duty to hold public policy and its execution up to scrutiny and this must be done in public. The general public have in many cases seen their livelihoods destroyed and taxpayers have been lumbered with debts that will beset them for years. They have a right to see those who landed them with these debts publicly explain what went wrong. The essence of effective regulation is proper accountability and that accountability will have consequences. Conducting a banking inquiry in camera would damage the effectiveness of such an inquiry. The people involved were public people who were entrusted with tasks for which they were paid handsomely and they have a duty to be accountable in public to the people whose livelihoods have been destroyed."

Simon Coveney outlined the Fine Gael position on RTE's 'The Week in Politics'

http://www.rte.ie/news/weekinpolitics/

(Sunday, 17 January 2010)