‘Fatally flawed’ and a ‘sham’.

The verdict of Independent Senator Shane Ross on the government’s plans for a banking inquiry.

He says the real value of such an inquiry is for the taxpayer to see what happened, and to make judgements as a result.

But the government favours a process of two reports and reviews and a private commission of investigation.

Shane Ross is accusing the government of ‘circling the wagons’.

“It looks as if there’s an effort to put the emphasis on the systems, rather than the people” he said.

“I think it’s the people that will have to be called as witnesses”.

“The shame is of course even if Mr. Cowen is called, and other politicians are called, and the Regulator’s called, we won’t see what they have to say – we won’t see the whites of their eyes”.

“So I think it’s unlikely that…. the public will ever get a real glimpse of what was going on” he added.