Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

If the sum is to be €500 million, that will be 1,000 gardaí, 1,000 teachers and 200 schools. I assume the Government has made some analysis of what this will cost. The Taoiseach says there will be some evidence of changes to the banking structure in the budget next week. Our belief is that the Government could have acted more swiftly and decisively in this matter. Arising from that, what was the cost to the Government of the advice of Merrill Lynch? Has that been taken into account or is the evidence given to the Government shoved aside in respect of what Mr. Peter Bacon says about a bad bank for toxic debt?

When does the Taoiseach expect world trends to resume? He made the point that Ireland will be able to get back on top when world trends resume. Does the Taoiseach have a timescale for that? What actions is the Government taking to ensure the country will be competitive, which it lost in the past five years, to avail of it?

I refer to the comment made by the analyst of Standard & Poors, which is not a comment from Fine Gael or the Labour Party, to the effect that when it looks at the Government through the financial institutions, it trusts neither. The analyst made the point that the probability is that a change of faces behind the Cabinet table is needed to restore trust, integrity and confidence in the Irish financial institutions and the Irish Government. The €500 million question is what is the Taoiseach's view of that. Does he share the analysis of the analyst, whose words can change the market overnight, that there is no confidence in the Irish Government, that the Taoiseach has failed to deal with the economic challenges of the country, that he has presided over a disastrous banking system, that we have had a calamitous loss of competitiveness and that the Taoiseach should go?

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