Speaking in the aftermath of RTÉ's Prime Time Investigates feature on the banking system, Deputy Sherlock said: "Amongst the myriad of problems presented by last night's programme, a common factor presented itself; the Regulator. Mr Neary oversaw a period of reckless lending practices by the banks and did nothing."

First hand accounts of how credit committees were mere 'window dressing' for the financial institutions will rightly anger the taxpayers who are now paying for laissez-faire attitude of the Financial Regulator during the last decade.

"The revelations that the Regulator aired concerns with institutions such as Irish Nationwide but failed to follow through on these issues is a damning indictment of a Regulatory body which, it appears, was simply window dressing itself.

"Months before the State was forced to bail out the banks I raised concerns relating to our banking systems exposure to property speculation with Mr Neary at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs. Needless to say his response at that meeting in April 2008 was to avoid the issue by promising that he would 'reflect' on my concerns.

"Mr Neary's own head-in-the-sand attitude was best seen in his own appearance on Prime Time in October 2008 following the banking guarantee. The assurances he gave that night would now appear to be the testimony of somebody who was clearly oblivious to what was going on.

"The damage done by Mr Neary's incompetence is now felt by every Irish man, woman and child. Our reputation internationally is in shreds, the cost of government borrowing on the markets has soared. The root of the cause of every underfunded hospital, school and road in this country, every pay cut imposed on workers, regardless of their sector, can be traced back to a so called 'watchdog' that has proved to be utterly incompetent.

"That Mr Neary received over €600,000 as a 'bonus' for a tenure of denial and ineptitude is nothing sort of sinful. Workers who have received a 5% pay cut because of the fall of the economy would take decades to earn through hard work what this man was gifted at the conclusion of a ineffective and counter productive stint as Regulator.

"In the grand scheme of things such a gesture may be a drop in the ocean, but it is nonetheless the right thing to do. The people of Ireland do not deserve what has been asked of them by the Financial Sector. Similarly Mr Neary does not deserve such an extravagant bonus. At least one of those wrongs can easily be put right."