Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I will comment responsibly in reply to some of what the Deputy has had to say. I make it clear to him, as we have always done, that it is the public interest and no other factor which motivates the Government in this matter. Any suggestion to the contrary is just fanciful on the Deputy's part. The Opposition contends continually during the course of the election campaign that this is about bailing out banks. It is important to point out that it is not about bailing out banks but about trying to help those who depend on the banking system, including Irish businesses and individuals who require credit to conduct their affairs. Thus, we need a working banking system. The European Commission has approved the recapitalisation in the proposal we put to it in accordance with the EU guidelines that have been set out. The issue of trying to ensure funding for our banking system is based on the need to put our public finances in order and to ensure we provide the right policies in our general banking system, and that is what we have been doing. I reject the suggestion by Deputy Kenny that there is some way of dealing with the issue of impaired assets without actually identifying them and putting them somewhere else. The uncertainty created in the market due to the size of these impaired assets is hindering the normalisation of credit availability in the Irish banking system. Far from not introducing proposals and making decisions, the Government is determined to do whatever is necessary to assist. The setting up of the National Asset Management Agency is a similar model to that used in other parts of the world where there have been banking crises in the past.

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