Professor Patrick Honohan:

The view of the Central Bank was that ELA was something that would be extended to a single bank which had gotten into trouble. It was facing a situation where it was likely that it would lend ELA to all the banks in the system. That was a step it felt it could not take. It said that such a step would be incredible, obvious to the market and damaging to Ireland and that it should instead look to something which would play to its strengths and the strength of the Government's finances. It could guarantee stuff. It believed it did not need the emergency liquidity assistance because the Government could instead provide a guarantee. I think that was the view taken. ELA for an entire system had not been contemplated in any country. We ended up with ELA for the entire system two years later.