Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The common good of this country requires, first and foremost, a return to economic growth. Economic recovery is dependent on three key factors. The first is getting the public finances back in order. That work is well under way and will be debated in this House when I bring forward the budget in December. The second is restoring our competitiveness by reducing our cost base. The final key element is a healthy banking system that will serve the needs of the wider economy. Without a properly functioning banking system, we will not have economic recovery. It is as simple as that. Having stabilised the financial institutions over the past year, we must now move to cleanse them of their infection and return them to full health. The necessary controls have been included in our plan to ensure that the interests of taxpayers have been and will be protected throughout the process of repair. The reforms I will introduce to our regulatory and supervisory structures will ensure that there will be fair, but forceful, oversight of the banking sector.

I thank those in various Departments and Government agencies as well as my financial and legal advisers who have worked incredibly hard over the past year in highly pressured conditions to deal with this crisis. The suggestion that, in setting up NAMA and in drawing up this legislation, they were somehow colluding in some conspiracy to protect narrow sectional interests is unworthy of any Member of this House.

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