John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

This evening we have an historic and momentous decision to make. Most of us in this House entered politics because we believe in serving our fellow citizens and protecting their interests. Central to that mission is guarding the welfare of the many against the greed and self-interest of the few.

The landmark decision we have to make is about protecting all Irish citizens. It is about protecting our economy and our society, and giving ourselves a fighting chance to make a good recovery from the global financial turmoil in which we now find ourselves. For the past month many Irish citizens have been living in daily fear for their jobs, their families' welfare and their homes. We have seen the breath-taking speed with which some of the world's fabled Wall Street investment banks literally vanished. Some of these were a century old and had even survived the 1929 Wall Street crash. Many of us asked what hope we in Ireland had if finance giants like Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley could not withstand the financial hurricane hitting world financial markets and banking systems.

The Government has considered the options for tackling this urgent crisis. The manifestation of the problem has been simple enough. Banks in Ireland, in common with their counterparts across the world, suffered from a lack of money. This lack of bank liquidity was threatening to bring longer-term depression to bear on an Irish economy already technically in recession. The lack of money to fund enterprise was threatening the well-being of virtually all Irish people. When business cannot borrow for its needs then ordinary citizens suffer as enterprises founder and jobs are lost.

We in Ireland have watched our counterparts in other countries, notably Britain and the USA, grappling with these same potentially crippling problems of bank liquidity. However, rather than follow the lead of Britain or the USA, we in Government are convinced that we have a better remedy. We are delivering an Irish solution to a global problem which fits our small open economy. We have decided to guarantee bank deposits in all Irish banks. We chose that over other options such as nationalising banks either partially or entirely.

We believe that as a country with one of the lowest level of debt to wealth ratios in the EU giving State guarantees to the Irish banks is fair to Irish taxpayers. The banks will also be obliged to pay for these guarantees which already today have enhanced their value and stabilised their shares on the money markets.

This comprehensive approach to the issue at hand dealing with all banks on the same basis avoids the potential for future confusion in dealing with banks on a case-by-case basis. Let us recall that banks lend money on two bases, the first on the funds they get from their own depositors and the second from money they borrow from other banks. In many ways, this legislation just widens the guarantee given to depositors 12 days ago to cover all bank deposits generally.

The Minister for Finance has brought forward a mechanism which minimises the cost to taxpayers but at the same time places a bedrock of State guarantee under our banking sector. This bold move has seen commentators from around the world look on with a degree of admiration. I am very proud of the role the Green Party was able to play in providing this innovative solution.

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