Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

We are coming to the end of the first phase of what has been an extraordinary 12 months not just in the life of the country, but also in the life of the world. Last Monday marked the first anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, bringing with it the oil that for whatever reason was powering most of the international banking system. That in addition to our own domestic issues has led us to the situation facing us today. The accusations that the Government has not responded or has not responded quickly enough are unfair. This House came back early last year to deal with the bank guarantee scheme, a scheme that was supported by the other side of the House and which has been renewed. The House came back early once again in January to deal with the issue of Anglo Irish Bank and the impact its potential collapse would have had on the economy. On the other side of the balance sheet, we have introduced a range of fiscal cuts - all opposed - in order to show that as a country we were gearing ourselves for the downturn ahead.

NAMA and the proposals outlined in detail yesterday by the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, provide us with a direction and purpose for how we will proceed. I agree with much of what Deputy McHugh said about restructuring the banking system. We are going to do that. Yesterday, the Minister made a commitment that this would now be the focus of his work in terms of how the banking system operates here. We cannot really do that unless we are in a position to provide capital to the banks. I have no doubt that the Minister will respond to Deputy Joe McHugh's comments - I will draw his attention to them - about the banks being able to access cash. One of the critical reasons they have been unable to provide funds to small businesses or mortgages is that they have not been able to access lending cash on the international markets or access it at a rate that could be passed on in a commercial way. That is what NAMA is intended to rectify.

It is not a write-off of €54 billion as many on the other side of the House will say. That €54 billion is firstly an estimate that will be backed up by each and every loan that is being transferred into NAMA being examined and assessed. Every loan is backed up by security for which we will get a real and proper value and not some type of inflated value. That is another guarantee for the taxpayer in terms of the detailed approach being taken.

It is unfortunate that Deputy George Lee has left. I believe he used the term "mad economics" - he could look in the mirror himself. To suggest a figure of €25 billion on that book is ludicrous.

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