Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

It is a huge sum of money and should not be subject to a short, Thursday debate, limited in time and procedure.

The debate comes a day after two of the most shocking disclosures we have heard here in a long time, namely, the fraudulent transactions which have been going on in Anglo Irish Bank and the admission by the Minister for Finance that he did not read the relevant part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report that referred to those matters. For those reasons the Labour Party will not agree to the unacceptable arrangements proposed. I ask the Tánaiste to agree to Deputy Kenny's suggestion that questions and answers be allowed for and that this debate be continued into tomorrow to allow reasonable opportunity for every Member to contribute.

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