Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Are we supposed to trust bankers? John Kenneth Galbraith said that these were the guardians of the nation's financial pessimism. Boards of banks do not know what is going on because when they meet for their two-hour meeting once a month or every two months, most of them do not have the information to ask the relevant questions. We are now faced with a small group from the National Treasury Management Agency, transferred into NAMA, being placed in charge of the largest property portfolio in the world. I realise the Minister must set out a whole series of questions about these loans, but if he does not put in people of real competence in this field, we will be going down a dangerous road. That is my experience with bankers at the highest level in this country. If they decide to tell the major Opposition party a whole series of untruths - because there is another word I cannot use here - that speaks for itself in terms of the trust we are expected to have.

The points that have been made by Deputy Bruton for many years are as relevant now as they were then. I acknowledge the respect and international standing of people such as Dermot Desmond, who I know sent his proposals for dealing with this issue to the Department of Finance more than six months ago. These were in many ways parallel to what Fine Gael has proposed-----

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