Greens call for inquiry - What a soft touch we are

THERE is growing momentum for an Oireachtas inquiry into the collapse of our banks.

Yesterday the Green Party supported the idea of an inquiry mooted by Colm McCarthy. Fine Gael has joined the fray saying they too are considering how best to proceed.

The Greens are in Government and if they want an inquiry they should insist on one. They cannot call for inquiries as if they were bystanders and not insist that they be established. The calling part is just grandstanding, the insisting part, the hard part, is politics that might make a difference.

Of course the great mystery is why there should even be a debate about this. Such an inquiry should have been established months ago and every citizen of this State should be obliged to satisfy it. Already Alan Dukes has criticised the financial regulator because of delays in relation to moving against Anglo Irish.

We are prepared to mortgage our children’s, and their children’s, futures through NAMA but we prevaricate about having an inquiry to establish why we are in this position. What a soft touch we are.