A proposal by the Fianna Fáil leader that an Oireachtas regulatory oversight committee be set up in the wake of the Nyberg report was rejected by the Taoiseach.
Enda Kenny said yesterday that the Government would hold a referendum to conduct Oireachtas fact-finding inquiries.
Speaking in the Dáil this morning, Micheál Martin said that in responding properly to what went wrong in banking, there would have to be wider set of specific reforms.
"The fundamental question remains who guards the guards in situations like this," he added.
Mr Martin said such a committee should be able to hire independent expert staff.
Enda Kenny said people wanted to have a situation where those involved in reckless lending, and in the pursuit of those activities, should be legitimately questioned.
"This Oireachtas does not have the authority to do that because of the constraints of the legislation which currently exists," he added.
"We are going to change that. We are going to ask the people for their authority and imprimatur to deal with the consequences of the Abbyelara judgment."
That, he said, would give the Oireachtas the right to have an investigation of the facts without criminal intent being determined.
Mr Martin said conventional wisdom, historically and in the last decade or so, was that it should be done through a regulator who was independent of the Oireachtas.
“We need to create alternatives to that approach,’’ he added.