Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I refer to the Minister's regulations allowing for any pain they might suffer. What is the actuarial basis for the calculation of the risk? There is no evidence that the Minister carried out such a calculation. The Minister's officials indicated it may have been done, but the scheme indicates that all those details are confidential.

Paragraph 44 of the scheme states: "A covered institution shall not pass on the costs of the guarantee to its customers in an unwarranted manner." That is a prohibition that is meaningless as phrased and fantastic as an ambition. If the Minister wants to take something from the banks, where is the equity interest that, when hopefully we have come through all this and we have gone over to the other side, we get a return when these banks return to strength and profitability? That is an aim we share with the Minister. Where is the beef for the taxpayer? Where is the actuarial valuation?

The payments are going into a designated account in the Central Bank. On the expiry of the scheme, this account is to be paid into the Exchequer, just in time for the next general election, although I would not think the Minister had considered this.

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