Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

His absence is noted. This morning I listened to the Minister for Finance, who speaks with his usual authority. Other authorities said the airwaves were buzzing with negativity yesterday, not because of the reaction to the Government's decision, but as a reaction to the Government's incompetence in handling this.

I object to the Government's proposal. This was originally to be statements. After pressure from this side of the House and others it was changed to a motion. We are expected to come in here today and have statements for ten minutes and a response from some Minister of State for 15 minutes at the end. A number of very serious questions need to be answered. The first is whether the Government has confidence in the management of Irish Life & Permanent, which appears to have colluded with Anglo Irish Bank to the deception of shareholders and given misleading information on deposit strength. This is a very serious matter given that it is a covered institution guaranteed by the Irish State. Does the Government have confidence in the management of Irish Life & Permanent as a covered institution?

The announcement by the Minister for Finance that he had not read the section of the report on Anglo Irish Bank is a black mark against him and the fact that the Financial Regulator was forced to resign because he knew about the loans from Anglo Irish Bank should lead the Minister to step down from his position as a patriotic gesture. However, the Fianna Fáil members do not do that. They do not read their brief and the recommendations, and they will continue on with business as usual.

The Minister for Finance chaired the Cabinet meeting that dealt with the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank. I do not want to know any Cabinet secrets and the Minister is not free to divulge them. However, in the preparation for that meeting the normal procedure is for Cabinet members to receive a memo on the major decisions to be made. These are circulated electronically. Did the Department of Finance prepare a memo on the nationalisation question and did it include the information on the extent of the loans to Anglo Irish Bank from Irish Life & Permanent and how the money was moving?

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