Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

This is going a little away from the matter of the amendment but I fully support the notion. As for constitutional responsibility, that is the purpose of our Ministers. It is the job of the Minister to come to the House, to be fully accountable and to say "I have made this scheme", or "I have made this financial arrangement, I am standing here, I am proud of it and I am prepared to be accountable." That is the spirit of the Bill.

I commend the Minister for the annulment provision. It is putting the cart before the horse to say the Bill could not come into being until a scheme is published. I hope we have a constructive debate. I urge the Minister to take on board any amendments from the Opposition in so far as they improve the Bill and I believe he will do this. Many financial commentators throughout the world have said that what we have done over the past day or two is a model that can and will be followed by other nation states. It is imperative we pass this Bill in the next few days. This is not just for the banks, but for the entire Irish economy and its stability. We must pass this Bill as quickly as possible.

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