Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I supported the guarantee and I qualified what I was doing on the night. And I spoke to my own people and I said, "Look, we don't much choice but to support it, but it is too widely cast". And then I asked the question during the debate to know was it intended to solve a liquidity problem or a solvency problem and the late Brian Lenihan assured me that it was liquidity. Now, I don't think he could have given me any other answer on the night. If he said it was solvency, the house would have come down .... the sky would've fallen, like. I don't think ... I mean, the way he looked at me I knew that ... I mean, I was quite friendly with him, like, so I had a different view. But I think if there was a mistake made on the night, it was that there wasn't a quick move to recapitalise shortly afterwards. Because it was as clear as crystal that very quickly, even if people didn't realise it on the night, that there was a solvency issue staring us in the face, and it wasn't just liquidity.