Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

They must be going elsewhere, then, to deposit the uninvested cash. As for foreign direct investment, it is fine and obviously is an important part of the economy, but it is the domestic economy here that is getting hammered. This is the reason lending to small and medium-sized enterprises is so important.

To move on quickly, a return to profitability by 2014 has been raised with Mr. Duffy. Why the obsession with the re-privatisation of Allied Irish Banks? If AIB returns to a position in which it is carrying out its business in a socially responsible way and then makes a profit as well, why not keep the bank in public ownership? Why hand it back to the types of entity that wrecked it in the first place?