Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Am I correct that the Minister read only the sections of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report which were drawn to his attention or highlighted by his Department, that the Department was considering a recapitalisation of this bank prior to the decision on nationalisation, that in the context of that recapitalisation nobody drew this matter to the Minister's attention and that nobody prior to the taking of the decision on recapitalisation or the decision to nationalise decided to obtain a report from the regulator on the outcome of his investigation in regard to this loan? Is that the position?

Is it the case that the Minister knew about this transfer when he came into this House with a proposal to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank and did not tell the House about it? This does not inspire confidence in anybody. I draw the Minister's attention to the letter sent by the Taoiseach to Deputy Kenny and me in advance of the nationalisation debate cautioning us on the need for responsibility. What was most important was that the Minister for Finance inform us of what was going on. The Minister stated, if I understand him correctly, that Anglo Irish Bank placed funds in a subsidiary of Irish Life & Permanent and that Irish Life & Permanent then deposited a similar amount of funds in Anglo Irish Bank. Can the Minister provide us with the amounts involved in both transactions?

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