Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The remaining balance of €3 billion was borrowed through front-loading the borrowing for the contribution to the pension fund. That is how the funding of AIB and Bank of Ireland capitalisation took place and those shares now rest in the pension fund. The shares, and the State's participation in these institutions, has seen an increase in value in recent months and already, because of where the institutions were when the capitalisation took place, the pension fund to date has seen an appreciation in value on those investments. Given the very low scale of the quoted share price at the time of the investment, there is every probability that the pension fund will benefit substantially from that particular investment. Would that the picture was as happy in all the financial institutions.

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