Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I find the earlier comments made by the Taoiseach to be incomplete. I want to know whether the Government plans to provide time for a debate between now and the Dáil's adjournment on Thursday if the Government decides not to introduce the necessary legislation in respect of the National Pensions Reserve Fund.

Despite everything he has said about the banks, he failed to mention the elephant in the room, namely, the issue of the bad debts carried by the banks. It is not that the banks lack capital but that when they write off those bad debts the hole in their capital will be as big as the hole that sunk the Titanic. That is the essence of the matter. It may only affect some banks in terms of the covered institutions but how can the Taoiseach propose to send the Dáil on a recess for six weeks and not allow a debate when matters will be addressed which deal with the lifeblood of this economy, the jobs of tens of thousands of people and the survival of thousands of businesses in the difficult period after Christmas?

It is simply unbelievable that the Taoiseach would send a statement to the newspapers which would do justice to the Sphinx it is so vague. He spoke about preference shares, ordinary shares and underwriting.

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