Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I do not have the date to hand in my brief today. On receipt of detailed information I will be in a position to advise the Deputy. He will appreciate I do not have the information at this stage. The two directors were not members of the board at the time when any payment was made, so they are entirely strangers to this transaction.

In regard to the position of Mr. Casey and Irish Life & Permanent, I went to great lengths during those board meetings to make clear that I would not be drawn out on whether I had indicated to any directors or the board my attitude regarding his status. It is correct for the Deputy to draw the comparison but I behaved in exactly the same way on this occasion. It is not appropriate for a Minister for Finance, in his communications with a board or directors while meetings of the board are pending, to express a view about what a board should do.

I made it clear on television at the time that it was quite impossible to do so given the possible legal exposures for the State. I am sure Deputy O'Donnell would appreciate that as a deputy Opposition spokesperson on Finance. A Minister for Finance who has guaranteed institutions should not put himself into a position where he exposes the State to any liability by injudicious comments about what should or should not be done by the boards, which have the responsibility of performing their duties in the management of these societies and banks.

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