Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Bruton and Deputy O'Donnell for bringing this motion before the House. There can be no doubt that the Government has mishandled this banking crisis. It might have been in spite of its best efforts, but there is no question that it has been mishandled.

When this crisis first broke late last year, the Government denied that there was any problem with the banks and claimed there was no need to guarantee deposits. The banks then got the Government guarantee, which happened late at night. We came into this House and we did not get the Bill until ten minutes before it was debated. We were told that the problems in the banks were just a liquidity crisis, and that there was no capital crisis at all. It was just a minor liquidity problem because the international credit markets were seized up and there was no underlying problem in the Irish banks. We know now that this was untrue. It is probably the case that we were being told untruths by senior Ministers at that stage.

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