Mary Lou McDonald TD has told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that a further deep-rooted Central Bank-led investigation into the Davy scandal is absolutely essential.

The Sinn Féin President said that the Minister for Finance should stop sitting on legislation that would give the Central Bank additional powers to hold individual financial executives to account when they break the rules.

Teachta McDonald said:

“The Davy scandal – and the government’s sluggish response to it  – shows that the toxic culture that brought this country to its knees a decade ago is alive and well. 

“People are looking at the lack of action to this latest scandal by successive governments and they are thinking – here we go again. Look at the facts. This Davy scam dates back to 2014.

“It took six years to get to this point and still no individual has been held to account. Those responsible continued to play a dominant role in the financial sector after the event.

“The Central Bank has been begging for additional powers so that they can hold individuals to account. Fine Gael has done nothing to respond to these calls for more than three years now. The Minister promised the legislation before summer 2019. Two years later and still nothing.

“The reality is that successive governments have permitted this reckless and greedy behaviour by the financial top brass.

“We need to know whether or not any of these rule-breakers are currently employed in government departments, state agencies or in banks in which the state has a stake. 

“The firm is taking it upon itself to appoint a third party to review its business practice. That is not an investigation. It is not credible to what is at issue here.

“The public interest demands a full and deep-rooted investigation led by the Central Bank into the Davy scandal. We need to get to the bottom of what went on. 

“There also must be real consequences for individuals who break the rules to line their own pockets. For years, the Minister for Finance has sat on legislation aimed at holding individual financial rule-breakers to account. The government must now get its act together and finally enact this legislation.”