Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I believe the State can take a shareholding in the banks, as has been done in the UK, but under that method, rather than under nationalisation, market scrutiny is kept on what is happening and a stock market price is kept going which gives an index on the progress being made in terms of getting the banks back working and, crucially, the taxpayer has a chance to sell back the shares and get a return for the investment. That is one of the reasons why I believe the NAMA approach rather than the nationalisation one is the right way forward.

I will not denigrate the approaches, or dispute the right of Deputies to propose alternatives, but let us not scare people to death by lines to the effect that the NAMA is a bailout for the banks or developers. It is not that but rather an attempt to address a fundamental problem. I believe we can do it. We can get recovery into the economy by following this approach. It is right to do it quickly rather than the Fine Gael approach of doing it gradually. It is right to use and follow the advice of the NTMA, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and just about every other country. The US and UK Administrations are following similar approaches. This is not without precedent. Other countries have done it successfully and I believe we can do it if we work collectively and cleverly. That can happen within the National Asset Management Agency.

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