Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis

Nexus Phase

Photo of Joe HigginsJoe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Okay, thank you. Just to move, Mr. Corrigan, if I could have the letter NTMA 002501, and this is a letter, Mr. Corrigan, that you wrote to the Minister, Brian Lenihan, on 27 November 2010, and if we can go to the second page of that letter please, it's .... yes. And you're very concerned here ... you're ... the letter is talking about a €35 billion requirement. Now, Deputy McGrath has covered some of this territory, I just really want to revisit for a little while. So, you ... €35 billion necessary for bank recapitalisation and you're extremely concerned about the effect of this on the national debt, etc. And then, you are recommending in the paragraph, "The NTMA recommends that all possible avenues towards mitigating the extra burden be pursued." You mention there the €12 billion, subordinated debt and the €20 billion in senior unguaranteed debt on the balance sheets. And then you want, or suggest, "An aggressive liability management exercise / resolution regime has the potential to significantly reduce the extra burden." At that stage in November, how much did you think could have been shaved off the burden that came onto the state and the taxpayers?