Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)

That figure has now risen to €80 billion. Perhaps the Tánaiste will outline how this figure, which appears to have landed out of the sky, was arrived at. I accept an attempt is being made to address the bad debts issue. We all agree the issue must be addressed although we may differ on the method by which that is done. The proposed method will in my opinion take a long time. We were told by the Taoiseach that this will be the answer to freeing up money to businesses and so on. However, that is no good if it is going to take six or eight months to take effect. Small businesses need money now. Six months time will be too late. This year is about survival.

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