James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

The problems in the international money market and the uncertainty in the US are having a detrimental effect on Ireland's economic climate and exacerbating the Taoiseach's recession. There is a need to take action. Fine Gael has made it clear that it will support action taken to protect our financial institutions, which are of integral importance to our economic system. Such action will ultimately determine whether Irish business flourishes or fails. We want to ensure we do not have to endure even greater levels of unemployment than those we are currently experiencing.

In the past, perfectly good concepts have come unstuck as a consequence of a lack of attention to detail. The manner in which the Health Service Executive was established is a prime example of that. Equally, legislation that was originally rushed often has to be brought back to this House, having caused unexpected and serious problems. This specific initiative lacks detail. What are the facts? Where are the figures? We need to know how much money each bank covered by this scheme owes. How much does each bank have in borrowings, bad loans, bad debts and assets?

Deputy Olivia Mitchell told this House earlier that 40 borrowers are responsible for 50% of all commercial development loans. Can the Minister for Finance give the House details of the spread of such exposure? Are the loans concentrated in a single bank? If so, can the Minister give us the name of that bank? We need individual figures for each bank, rather than the amalgamated and homogenised figures the Minister gave us last night. We need clarity so we can legislate clearly for the difficult times we find ourselves in. We do not have that clarity at the moment. Which bank is in the most trouble? Which bank is the bad apple that could rot the entire barrel? We need such detail if we are to protect taxpayers.

I am concerned that we are not taking this opportunity to beef up the power of the regulator, thereby ensuring that borrowings and lendings are carried out in a safe and reasonable fashion in the future. I do not doubt that this measure will have cost implications for taxpayers. The banking system will get some value from it. The Taoiseach intervened during Deputy Bruton's speech last night to intimate that if there were a shortfall and a bank were to go into liquidation, the Government would seek to make up the shortfall to the taxpayer by imposing a levy on banks. There is no specific mention of an arrangement of that nature in this legislation. Such detail is needed. The full facts need to be laid before the House. The regulator needs to be beefed up. We need proper oversight of any bank that takes up this facility. We need regulations in respect of borrowing and lending. The legislation should contain a clear reference to the mechanism for imposing a levy on the banks to recoup any shortfall that might arise. We should be able to control the salary and bonus arrangements of CEOs by having a presence on bank boards and risk assessment boards. The banks involved should acknowledge that they have been offered a taxpayers' guarantee. They should not try to recoup the losses they incurred by lending to developers by imposing additional levies on householders and other smaller customers.

The proposals I have made are hugely important. If this goes wrong, the barn will be empty. There is no plan B. There is no further capacity in our economy to consider this matter a second time. A country as small as Ireland cannot afford to lose €400 billion. To do so would be to become indebted, to the tune of €250,000 per person, for generations to come. What percentage of the exposure of the banks is represented by the figure of €80 billion? In other words, how much cover do we have? It may be the case that we have just 20% cover, given that €80 billion is just 20% of €400 billion. I do not know the answer. I would like to have the facts. It was clear throughout the document we were given last night that this measure involves giving the Minister a blank cheque to use as he sees fit. The trust that is needed to take such a step has to be earned and maintained. That can be achieved if regular reports are issued by the regulator and the Minister to the Committee of Public Accounts on a quarterly basis.

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