Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Tánaiste is right in one thing she said. Our system of justice, certainly as it pertains to corporate crime, is not the same as that of the United States. In that country they treat corporate wrongdoing somewhat more seriously than we do apparently. Our system of justice in Ireland, as it pertains to corporate crime, is not the same as it is in the US. Corporate wrongdoing in the US is treated somewhat more seriously than it is here. The public is not reassured that the investigation is ongoing. That is what worries the public and we have not seen any results from it yet. The Tánaiste has not been able to tell the House as to when it will be concluded and when we will see some accountability for it. This is an investigation into matters which took place in what is now a State owned bank. Meanwhile, all we are getting is the lámh amach from the banks, and in particular from Anglo Irish Bank.

The Tánaiste told us that the Government will consider whatever capital is necessary for Anglo Irish Bank. People who make up the statistics in today's CSO report, people who have lost their jobs, people whose businesses are in trouble, and people who are facing possible pay cuts and tax increases, are in this position due to the carry on of Anglo Irish Bank in particular. It was not the only bank, but it was the worst offender by far that was reflected in the figures provided by the Minister for Finance last week, when he stated that €28 billion of the toxic loans associated with that bank. We have to fork out for it and on top of that, the bank is now looking for more money to recapitalise. Can the Tánaiste tell us if the figure that Anglo Irish Bank will require is as high as the €10 billion that was reported in one of the newspapers last Sunday?

She has stated that the Government will consider whatever capital is necessary, but we do not get the same approach from the Government at all. She is not telling the hospitals, the schools or any area of public life in this country that they will get whatever money is necessary. She is not telling people who need to get back into employment that the Government is going to provide whatever money is necessary in order to get them back to work, yet she is telling us that the Government will provide whatever capital is necessary to keep Anglo Irish Bank alive. How much is that? It has got €3.8 billion of our money already. How much more will the bank get?

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