Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is not helpful to refer to this as a Pandora's box; nor is it accurate. It is not a question of an impediment. There is a question from the European Union about what it regards as the possible discriminatory nature of a scheme provided for just the banks incorporated or regulated in one state. We must deal with this issue. We are engaging constructively with the European Union. The competition Commissioner has been constructive and co-operative in this regard. We are working through the issues involved, as the Opposition expects us to do. It is not a question of there being an impediment but of how we can ensure the scheme meets the requirements of the European Union competition directorate, while at the same time leaving us in a position to consider any applications sympathetically and in a way that will not provide an inordinate risk for the State. From the European Union point of view, we must make sure we are compliant with EU competition law and from our point of view, if we are to make arrangements with institutions other than those in our own jurisdiction, we must make sure we are covered and that we can ring-fence their Irish operations. The assets and liabilities must be ring-fenced and we must know what we are taking on in the same way as we know what we are taking on with Irish banks which are not part of a wider group incorporated somewhere else. How can we make sure, for all the reasons Deputies expect, that it is the authentic Irish operation with which we are dealing, not flows coming in and out from within the group, inter-company debts and all the rest?

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