Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I support the remarks made earlier by Deputy Bruton and also by Deputy Noonan in stating we need more information as to what we are doing here. We need more information on what it is we are trying to achieve and how we are to ensure we achieve it.

The Minister stated that this problem is one of liquidity, which is what we are dealing with. There is no doubt there has been an international credit crunch. The truth of the matter is that the ECB has made liquidity available, albeit at a price. The problem the Irish banks are facing is not an absolute shortage of liquidity in the overall market but that they cannot access it through the interbank market. We must ask ourselves why this is the case. Why is it Irish banks are perceived to be more of a risk than their peers in the rest of Europe?

See this speech in context