Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I am curious about the way in which the Government is planning to do this. I understand from what the Taoiseach said that the issue of the banks is to be dealt with in the Budget Statement by the Minister, Deputy Lenihan. The significance and scale of what is being done, or intended to be done, is very large. What has been done already is very large. The guarantee exposes the Irish taxpayer in a considerable way. The cost of the recapitalisation, namely, taxpayers' money already provided to the banks, is apparently about double what the Government proposes in the budget, in terms of the total impact of the budget's €7 billion.

There has been speculation over the course of recent days that proposals are being considered by Government which effectively will use taxpayers' money to buy up the bad loans. This means buying up the half-finished housing estates, the land bought at enormously inflated prices, the property that was the cause of speculation. Is it the case that in addition to the bail-out of the banks already undertaken by Government there will now be a bail-out of the property speculators who ruined the country? Is it the case that the announcement of that bail-out will be buried in the Supplementary Budget Statement to be made later today? At that time everybody's eye will be on what their tax liability is to be and where they will stand in terms of levies, and so on. Is it the case that there will be a significant announcement concerning banks buried in the Supplementary Budget Statement? I would have thought that the scale of what must be done in respect of the banks required a separate announcement by the Government, one that might be examined and debated on its own merits rather than being part of the bigger Supplementary Budget Statement.

I do not accept what the Taoiseach said about market sensitivity. The markets have been sensitive to the banks for a very long time and we see the consequences. I accept what the Taoiseach said about market sensitivity. The markets have been sensitive to the banks for a very long time and we see the consequences in the share price.

The Bacon report is of major significance to the public. This is our money. One of the banks has been nationalised and €7 billion of public money has already been put into the banks. This is not private business any longer; this is public business. If one compares it to what happened in Sweden in the early 1990s, all of this type of information was put into the public domain and it was this fact that helped to restore confidence. If the information and the reports on which the Government is making decisions on these matters is not shared with the Opposition parties and made available to the public, it is very difficult for the public to regain the kind of confidence we all accept is required in the banking system.

Again, I ask the Taoiseach to tell us straight out what the Government intends to do with the banks. Will it buy up the bad loans? How much taxpayers' money will be used in this regard? Can we have sight of the Bacon report, which the Taoiseach now says is just one report? What other reports is the Government considering in regard to the banking system?

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