Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I wish to ask two questions. The Minister raised the financial stability report of the Central Bank. However, he neglected to mention this report states the system has a weakness. The Central Bank carried out a survey of the licensed financial banks and found that joint ventures or special purpose vehicles are sub-prime conduits and are not regulated. Is the Minister concerned about this? We do not have proper controls. The ISTC, which is on the verge of going out of business, directly entered the retail sector through Friends First and 125 retailers invested in it, one of which was a credit union. That has an impact on the ordinary man on the street. Based on the financial instability report and what I have said, is the Tánaiste satisfied that proper controls are in place? Will he comment on the fact that the value of bank shares, which make up a substantial proportion of the Irish Stock Exchange's value, has dropped by nearly half? Can he explain this significant decrease?

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