Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach said he knew about the Quinn situation in March and that his understanding was that the matter was resolved with the statement on 30 July from the Quinn group. We now know that the so-called resolution of the Quinn issue involved an arrangement whereby Anglo Irish Bank provided €300 million to ten wealthy individuals, who in turn used the money to buy shares in Anglo Irish Bank. According to newspaper reports at the weekend, the loan arrangement that Anglo Irish Bank made with the ten individuals was on very favourable terms to the point where there was no security against the loan other than the shares. The net effect of this is that the taxpayer is left with a bill for €300 million following the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank.

There are a number of questions I would like answered about this arrangement. Did they Financial Regulator, the Department of Finance or the Minister for Finance know about the arrangement involving the ten individuals when the decision was taken to proceed with the bank guarantee in September? Were details of the arrangement included in and described in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which the Taoiseach did not receive and which the Minister for Finance did not read in full? Did the Taoiseach and the Government know about the arrangement involving the ten individuals when the decision was made to proceed with the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank? If the Taoiseach knew about it, why was the House not told about it?

In response to comments made by Deputy McGinley, the Taoiseach said he does not know who are the ten individuals. I do not want to challenge the integrity or credibility of the Taoiseach but I find that difficult to accept. If this arrangement, involving ten individuals, was made and linked so intimately with the Quinn arrangement, and this led initially to the guarantee scheme and ultimately to the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank, I find it difficult to accept that the Head of Government that nationalised Anglo Irish bank would not know about the extent of that arrangement. The people of the country need to be told who these individuals are. When will we find out who they are? This is no longer a matter of commercial confidentiality and the confidentiality of the individuals. We now own the bank and we are stuck with the debt. Teaching assistants are being let go, children are being told they cannot get vaccinations, book grants are being abolished and staff of the State are being levied because of the financial and economic difficulties that arose from this. We need to know the names and identity of this golden circle. It is no longer a matter of commercial confidentiality. This is the rotten borough of Irish banking. What has been going on ranges from what might be mildly described as impropriety to illegality and criminality. It must be outed and we need to know who is in the golden circle. Who were these ten people? If the Taoiseach does not know, will he find out and tell the House?

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