Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is very important that we protect the integrity of the financial system. Everything we have done has been with that in mind. I do not accept Deputy Kenny's contention that advice was ignored. In September the full advice was that all financial institutions of systemic importance had to be protected and dealt with in the way that we did.

Deputy Kenny went on to talk about the recapitalisation issue in regard to the €1.5 billion proposal, which was a step short of nationalisation, in our policy statement of 23 December. I made it clear in the House that, subsequently, governance issues came to our attention as a result of a due diligence that was carried out, having made that policy statement that we were prepared to put money into Anglo Irish Bank in the interests of maintaining the financial system. In doing that due diligence what emerged were governance issues which meant that the nationalisation of the bank should take place. It was not appropriate to impart partial information which had to be considered by the regulator and now by the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

One issue that must be cleared up for ourselves and for the country is that where any wrongdoing has occurred, if there is to be accountability, it must be in compliance with due process. If we do not accord due process, then we put at risk the very objective we are setting out to achieve, which is to make sure that those who are responsible for any wrongdoing are made accountable and that we create clear blue water between those activities which are unacceptable and a new regime. I realise the anger that exists in the community and share that anger in many respects. What I am trying to do is to make sure that this issue is dealt with through the mechanisms available to us, that the statutory authorities investigate the people concerned, that they take whatever steps are necessary to deal with them and that at the same time, in laying emphasis on that important issue of public confidence, we also lay important emphasis on maintaining our financial system and do not underestimate the difficulties we face in so doing.

That is what we are trying to achieve. Any contention to the contrary is incorrect. I take Deputy Kenny's point at face value and I appreciate it. Everything we are seeking to do here is to bring about a situation where those involved in wrongdoing or in practices that were not in compliance with proper corporate governance principles are held accountable. That is what we are trying to achieve. We seek to do so as quickly as possible but also to make sure that we maintain our financial and banking system which, like everywhere else in the world, is under stress.

See this speech in context