Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is not for Mr. Ó Brolcháin to comment, but it looks like a sop to salvage the credibility of the Government's original triumphalism that it would obtain this, that as it now fades into the distance there is still a possibility we will get it. I will move on from this point as there is not much more to be said about it.

On a more general basis, the €60 billion for direct recapitalisation would be a pretty pathetic figure if there was to be another serious financial crisis in Europe. We had to get €64 billion and one bank alone, Anglo Irish Bank, required €30 billion. If there was to be any serious shock to the European financial system, the €60 billion for the whole of Europe would be exhausted very quickly by two banks the size of Anglo Irish Bank. We would then be back to our bailing them out again.