Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

They will continue on their merry way because the focus is on self-preservation from his party-political point of view.

The Government's programme has condemned every family in the country to having levered on top of them a mortgage of up to €45,000, which will deal with the bank crisis, which the Taoiseach allowed to happen despite warnings, not only from this party but also from a range of independent organisations dealing with financial direction and financial rectitude. That is what the Taoiseach has allowed to happen. The Government will impose €45,000 on every family if it proceeds with the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency. The agency has already been torpedoed below the waterline by the chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency who, as one of the foremost public officials in the country, stated that he has no idea whether it will work. He went on to state that we have not found any solutions, and the fact that he reads more about this in the newspapers than he does from Government.

Despite the fact that the Taoiseach takes the view that we on this side of the House pontificate all of the time, I put it to him that the proposal from the Fine Gael Party to evolve out of the banks clean banks and fund those through a wholesale bank capitalised from the European Central Bank will not expose the taxpayer to a potentially devastating economic crucifixion of €90 billion assessed increase on the national debt. That is where the Taoiseach is proceeding. The chief executive of the NTMA stated that the lawyers will have a generation of field days in the courts out of the way the Government is proceeding.

If he is interested in alternative views that will not expose the taxpayer to that crippling debt, is the Taoiseach prepared discuss with me the Fine Gael proposal, which will not involve crucifying the taxpayer in this regard, which will free up credit to businesses in a short period with clean trustworthy banks where there is integrity? This would ensure that those who caused the problems with the banks in the first place will have to pay for their difficulties, following which we can then proceed to restore some confidence to business where credit begins to flow and where there is a system that will not involve the taxpayer being exposed to a potential €90 billion debt.

See this speech in context