Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I recall a telephone call with the Minister for Finance when he said we would have to introduce a guarantee scheme for the banks. I told the Minister we would support a guarantee scheme for the banks because he will need a banking system for the lifeblood of the economy to operate.

I did not know, and apparently nobody else knew, except members of the Government, that when he came into this House to speak on the Anglo Irish Bank issue he could have informed this House that there had been a serious run on that bank before that guarantee. We now know that there was such a run. We now know that other very serious issues arose that were not discussed in this House at that time. Proceeding with the setting up of the National Asset Management Agency, on the advice of one consultant, may well expose the Irish taxpayer irretrievably to a further potential debt of €90 billion, with dubious assessments of those valuations, for which their grandchildren will still be paying, when we could do it in so many other ways.

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