Banking inquiry: Rabbitte and MacSharry heated exchange

Senator Marc MacSharry of Fianna Fail questioned former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte at the banking inquiry:

Senator MacSharry: Were you a recipient of hospitality from the developers in all its known guises, including transportation, because we specifically honed in on that with other witnesses, and it's a matter for your judgment as to how you answer that?

Mr Rabbitte: Not that I recall, Senator. I recall travelling to view a business park in Bristol when I was chairman of the county council, or when I was a member of Dublin County Council when we were designing what has now become Citywest Business Park, probably the most prestigious park in the country, and I presume it wasn't Dublin County Council who paid for us to travel.

I presume it were the developers who brought over six or eight or ten of us to view the park that we replicated at Citywest.

But I would regard that as part of my job and part of my duty rather than hospitality. Yes, I’ve travelled to matches.

One friend of mine, in particular, is a small builder, or, maybe, more appropriately, to be truthful, I don’t know how good he is at it, his father was the small builder, and I notice sometimes, Senator, that talent skips a generation.

Senator MacSharry: That's good actually, that's good. So your opinion then of anybody else who might have been recipients of hospitality? Are you going to tell me?

Mr Rabbitte: Am I going to tell you?

Senator MacSharry: Your opinion of the leader of Fianna Fáil or the leader of Fine Gael or the leader of Sinn Féin or whoever?

Mr Rabbitte: Well, I don't think I'm here to pass judgment on my colleagues in other parties. I mean, I don't know, I don't know.

Senator MacSharry: Do you think it would be appropriate?

Mr Rabbitte: I don't think it would be appropriate for me to do that, and I don't intend to comment on.

Senator MacSharry: Oh, yes, okay. Now, Tánaiste, over to yourself. Do you think talent skips a generation as well, by the way, just so we can have that on the record?

Joan Burton: Well, didn't somebody say a long-legged thing called a son.

Senator MacSharry: So now we've all got it out of our systems, can we get down to the answering of the questions?

Ms Burton: Could I ask the Deputy to repeat which part of which question he's asking me to answer? I've got a bit lost Deputy.

Senator MacSharry: Have you, first of all, been the recipient of any hospitality, in all its guises, including transportation to and from matches with good or bad builders or where talent skips a generation or not, as Deputy Rabbitte so eloquently put it?

Ms Burton: No.

Senator MacSharry: Never?

Ms Burton: No, not to my knowledge.