Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The ECB has stated it will provide the funding. It is needed as part of a stimulus. We are in a classic recession as we spiral downwards because of a lack of confidence and, in turn, a lack of spending, which has led to deflation. All the economic analysis says a state must stimulate in those circumstances. It is slightly counterintuitive to spend one's way out of debt and the problems associated with it, but it is the only way to do so, according to all the macro-economic analysis.

This is our stimulus opportunity but it will not lead us back to the old ways. We are at a fundamental changing point in capitalism, particularly in Ireland. The politics of the past 50 or 60 years was about who owned the resources but this will change to how we sustain and protect such resources, which will lead to a new economy. Keynes said in the middle of the last similar crisis in the 1930s that an economy must be stabilised before it can be reformed. His analysis holds true today. We are adopting a stimulus to get the patient out of the operating theatre and into intensive care for a number of years when we can make the reforms that are needed. However, that must be done with a stimulus package. That cannot be done while the economy continues to deflate and that is at the centre of the NAMA concept.

It is important, having set out on that task and where assets are off the banks' sheets in order that they begin to lend more effectively, that there are protections for the taxpayer. Last week, Deputy Burton said I was referring to an equal mix. I clearly said that for any premium we pay above the current market value, the taxpayer must be protected through two key concepts. First, we own a good chunk of the banking system and I have no problem with us taking a nationalised position in that sense in our banks and, therefore, we are on the other side of the deal for any such premium and we are protected. Then there is the gap on risk sharing. I read the letter written by Dr. Patrick Honohan which the Minister for Finance quoted earlier. He is supportive of this approach and I do not know how Deputy Bruton can say he has not approved it. Dr. Honohan said this was the correct risk sharing policy. It is strong because the taxpayer is paid first and the bank second. That concept is crucial in answering the taxpayer's question about how he can be sure he is not paying over the odds. We want that concept stitched into the operation of NAMA.

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