Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Government is unwilling to discuss the notion that there are elements of the banks that are good and need protection and elements that are bad and do not need to be protected.

Fine Gael's approach to this has led us to separate the flow of credit solution from the bank resolution solution. We are doing that for sound reasons: we can use public money more effectively if we make that distinction. This means establishing a national recovery bank and using €2 billion of taxpayers' money to put credit straight into the arteries of businesses who need it. This idea was debunked by Ministers and spokespersons on the other side, I recall a mention of fantasy banks. However, such a scheme was up and running in France within months. RTE had a piece last night in which this was described. This is not something that is bizarre and extraordinary, as Ministers would like to pretend, but something other countries are doing, which is working. These institutions are providing credit to businesses who will not get credit from zombie banks. That is an important point.

The second phase should be a bank resolution system which is designed to give the banks themselves the opportunity to work out their problems. They created them; let them work it out and take the primary responsibility.

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