Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am referencing page 9 in the statement, but it is in the book as well. Dr. Donovan stated, "Contrary perhaps to what is sometimes said, it appears from this table that the coverage of the Irish guarantee was not that radically different from that contained in several other earlier guarantees". Then, subsequently, in an article in The Irish Timeson 5 October, Dr. Donovan said that the guarantee in September 2008 was the least worst option. Can Dr. Donovan tell me of any other guarantee - he said it was not radically different from others - where the level of bank deposits guaranteed, amounting to €400 billion, were over two times GDP or the level of debt taken on by the taxpayer, amounting to €64 billion, was nearly 40% of GDP? Does Dr. Donovan still hold by his assessment that it was the least worst option? Does he believe, in line with his colleagues in the IMF, that bondholders should have been burned? Finally, does he believe that Anglo Irish Bank should have been allowed to fail?