Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Why did the Minister believe that the House was not entitled to know that Anglo Irish Bank was under investigation for both the unwinding of the Quinn Group's shareholding and Irish Life & Permanent's deception concerning its deposit base when he was proposing legislation for the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank? Did he not believe this to be material information that would affect the opinion of the House and the shape of the legislation? One of the proposals that we sought to adopt was to the effect that any write-off of loans by the bank would be put into the public domain. It was not even reached as an issue, but knowing the ten names would have resolved some concerns.

Regarding the defence used, namely, that the investigation could have been prejudiced, all of the information is in the public domain, but no one is suggesting that the investigation is being abandoned because it has been prejudiced and cannot reach a fair conclusion.

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