Coalition lashed over banking probe majority

The Government’s addition of two members to the banking inquiry to secure a majority has caused anger among backbenchers, with one Fine Gael TD publicly calling on the Taoiseach to remove a coalition member.

It comes as Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin accused Enda Kenny of abandoning a democratic decision made when the original nine members were put in place, in order to “seize control” of the hearings.

“This has been a bad week for politics in Ireland,” Mr Martin said.

The addition of two government members and the Taoiseach’s claim in the Dáil that this majority was needed to set the terms of reference showed the Coalition’s “last shred of credibility around reform were abandoned”, Mr Martin said.

The Government added the members — Fine Gael’s Michael D’arcy and Labour’s Susan O’Keeffe — to the committee through a Seanad vote on Thursday, bringing the group up to 11.

It followed the earlier selection of two opposition members when government members failed to turn up to a Senate vote — giving the opposition a five to four majority.

Kerry South TD Brendan Griffin was one of a number of Fine Gael TDs critical of how the issue was handled.

“It’s obviously a huge blow for the committee’s credibility. We need to be bringing the public and all political quarters with us on this and it has got off to the worst possible start,” he said.

“It’s important to move forward with consensus and the best way to do this is to have an even number of government and opposition members. I will be asking the Taoiseach to take out one of our members, or put in another from the opposition.

“I don’t see why, if it is to be objective and if it is to be impartial, that it should not be even.”

Fine Gael Meath East TD Regina Doherty said she believed the committee should have been left as it was. “It certainly doesn’t crown us in glory. I’m hopeful that when it gets established the impartiality and non-biased nature of the people sitting on that inquiry will shine through,” she said.

“I believe the people who were originally selected have one and only one aim: To shine a light on a number of years and particular decisions made.”

Cork East TD Tom Barry said the inquiry has been “blemished” by public commentary and the controversy in recent days wasn’t helpful. “I personally think a majority should have been reflected, but the way it turned out was wrong,” he said.

Labour TD Dominic Hannigan called on the Taoiseach to reassess the decision. “It was bad politics and called the integrity of the committee into question,” he said.

“We should have accepted that we lost the original vote of appointments and moved on.”

Meanwhile, Independent senator David Norris rejected claims by Labour leader and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, that the original vote to appoint two opposition Senate members for the committee was a “stroke”.

He said he voted for another independent senator, Sean Barrett, and Fianna Fáil’s Marc MacSharry “precisely to ensure that the government parties would be in a minority thereby securing a truly independent inquiry”.

“What was required and what was mandated by the Oireachtas was a parliamentary inquiry and not government inquiry. It was my deliberate and informed vote that created this situation.”