Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will begin where Deputy Doherty left off. I would love to share Mr. Newton's optimism but I do not trust the European Commission for one second, given all that it has been party to in respect of this country.

Nor do I trust the Government, because the Minister, Deputy Noonan, has no difficulty allowing sales to happen without any protections of the type of which Mr. Newton speaks. For what Mr. Newton is suggesting to be true, the European Commission would have to be insisting on a higher level of guarantee than the Minister for Finance and Government are happy with. It is not Mr. Newton's area, as this is an area of policy, but I do not share his comfort in any way. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, will happily allow these assets be sold to the highest bidder, and to hell with the mortgage holders, just as he is doing in letting the special liquidator for IBRC do what it is doing. The Government's position on this is clear.

The question Deputy Doherty asked, which was not answered, was whether we can legally ring-fence these assets as they transfer into Bank of Ireland so that under Irish law - I will not be relying on the European Commission to protect anyone in Ireland - Bank of Ireland could be prevented from selling them on to an unregulated entity.