Taoiseach our most toxic asset, says Regan

SEANAD:THERE WILL be an election in March, deputy Seanad leader Dan Boyle (Green) told the House.

Mr Boyle said there was a need for a debate on the revelations to the Dáil on the Anglo Irish Bank controversy. The further questions that arose from the information that was being given and the nature in which it was being imparted required a detailed and serious debate with appropriate answers, though it did not change the need to pass the Finance Bill.

Eugene Regan (FG) said he did not believe that Brian Cowen should represent this country in the US on St Patrick’s Day.

He said it was evident that there had been “a think-in on Anglo and banking policy at that time. The story of Brian Cowen at this stage is in shreds and it’s as believable now as the dig-out stories of his predecessor Bertie Ahern.”

Mr Cowen was now “our most toxic asset” and would be unable, in his Washington visit, to project “the new image that was required in view of the vital national interest involved in terms of the importance of US investment”.

Ivana Bacik (Lab) said it seemed deeply ironic that the Taoiseach, in 2008, should have been seeking advice on how to improve the economy from the man – Seán FitzPatrick – whose dealings were to bring it down.

Shane Ross (Ind) said what he found worrying was not that the Taoiseach had met with Mr FitzPatrick on one occasion, but that he had done so frequently.