Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Yes, we did. As I understand the Minister's argument is that if he had to come back to the House for approval, he would be signalling to the National Pensions Reserve Fund that it had to sell shares. Signalling this to the National Pensions Reserve Fund would send a terrible message to the markets and the fund would not be able to realise the value of its shares because the Minister had the temerity to tell the Dáil that he was proposing to put more money into the banks. I do not think this is credible. I do not think the events of the past months since September suggest it is credible nor do I think the markets would respond. I know the National Pensions Reserve Fund has its shares scattered over thousands of shareholdings within which it is only a tiny shareholder in any single event. No one is hanging on the moment when the National Pensions Reserve Fund decides it will sell its outer Mongolian share in diamond mining because it just does not work like that. The Minister would be perfectly entitled, in my view, to come to the shareholders of Ireland Inc. just as the banks will be holding extraordinary general meetings for their shareholdings and warning that the Minister will be diluting their shareholdings by putting in more money into the company. They will be looking for shareholders to approve that. I see this in a similar way.

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