Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

A total of 65 minutes has been set aside to discuss the recapitalisation of the banks. That is inadequate and there is no provision for questions and answers from a Minister.

In the context of what we learned in the past 48 hours about the budgetary issues and cuts in the health services, and also about what the Taoiseach has said about an economic framework, it is very difficult to discuss the provision of up to €10 billion for Irish banks when other serious budgetary issues face the country over the Christmas period.

Can the discussion be expanded to cover not only to the banks but to include the budgetary emergency that yet again faces the Health Service Executive? Can it also include the general framework that the Taoiseach spoke about, an economic plan for getting the country through 2009? We need more time for that. If the time to be allocated was to be doubled and if there were to be provision for a question and answer session, there would then be some notion of parliamentary accountability about the exercise.

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