Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Chair. Just if I can clear up one issue, Deputy Rabbitte. You said that yourself and Deputy Noonan raised a question about solvency of the banks when the guarantee Bill was being discussed at the end of September 2008 and you went on to say you wouldn't expect the Minister of the day, Brian Lenihan, to come in and say that he believed the banks were insolvent. I would just ask you to clarify, are you suggesting that the Minister had a belief that the banks were insolvent, if you could clarify that? And secondly, you said a moment ago, and it's related, that the Department of Finance must have had a suspicion about solvency with Anglo Irish Bank and I would just put it to you, we've have many of those former officials in who've given testimony under oath and certainly there hasn't been any suggestion from any senior Department official that they had a suspicion, when the guarantee decision was being made, that the bank was actually insolvent. And as you know, the Governor, Financial Regulator, gave advice at the time that the bank was solvent. So can you just clarify, and just give me the opportunity to do so in relation to Brian Lenihan, are you making any inference or suggestion that he did actually believe there was a solvency issue with Anglo at that time?