Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

The Deputy contributed pure tripe — Ballymagash — which does this House no justice.

The Irish banking system needs a shot of integrity. International markets keeping an eye on the matter need to be given confidence. Fine Gael proposed that the board members and CEO of the Financial Regulator should resign — this is nothing personal. There needs to be a proper investigation of the regulatory system and we need to show outside markets that we mean business. I will welcome the publication of the PwC report tomorrow and the Anglo Irish Bank report.

When banks were being recapitalised, the only reason for doing so was to have a sound banking system to address the needs of small businesses that were on their knees. In all our constituencies, small businesses cannot obtain credit. Homeowners are under pressure to make mortgage repayments and potential homeowners are having difficulty obtaining mortgages. The documentation on the scheme introduced last Thursday refers to capacity but does not refer to absolute figures. The scheme documentation refers to a 10% increase in capacity for small businesses and a 30% increase in capacity for first-time buyers but it does not give absolute figures. We have problems of a magnitude we have never seen before in Ireland. Our banking system is under pressure and we must maintain a sound banking system. In the process, we must be conscious we do not waste taxpayers' money. That is why we believed Anglo Irish Bank should be wound down rather than continue as a going concern.

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