Darragh O'Brien (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I hope that the engagement that happens with the Opposition on Committee Stage will give rise to some viable amendments being tabled. Everyone agrees we have a problem that has to be dealt with and we cannot just allow it to sit. Nationalisation should be the very last thing we do, because it would cost the taxpayer more.

The Fine Gael proposal does not stack up. The proposal that stacks up is the National Asset Management Agency. What is crucial, however, and what people on the street need to see is the effect it has in the real economy. People need to see credit flowing back again. It is not just about saving the banks but rather a matter of boosting the economy.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh earlier mentioned the ESRI report and one can look at yesterday's Central Bank report on the economy. There are signs in the economy that things are bottoming out. Exports are performing very well in Ireland as compared to our European partners. It looks as if the new rates of unemployment have fallen dramatically. It is incumbent on us as a Government and Members of the Dáil to ensure that people who have recently lost their jobs are looked after and that we provide opportunities for them to get back into the workforce as quickly as possible. The way to do this is to have a viable functioning economy. The lifeblood of any economy is a functioning viable banking system, whether we like it or not. We have to deal with this matter.

In the Government's view NAMA is the only way forward. Independent economic commentators, including the IMF and the European Central Bank have endorsed these proposals, and at this stage they must be quickly implemented to ensure that within a short space of time those businesses that are being strangled by the banks can access the funds they require to keep employing people and to trade in the real economy. That is what this about, not about banks or bankers per se. I ask the Opposition to look at the Government's record in this regard. Take the bank guarantee scheme, which, Fine Gael in fairness supported. This has brought in about €1 billion to the Exchequer. It is not a free lunch for the banks. The recapitalisation, as well, came with an 8% coupon and preference shares in AIB and Bank of Ireland to the tune of about €560 million. Already with the uplift in the share values the Exchequer is better off by more than €2 billion. It is not a question of giving anyone a free lunch in this regard. We are dealing with the situation decisively. I ask people to look at the issue in the cold light of day. Since the credit crunch happened, not just in Ireland but across the world, every other country is dealing with a variation of the problems we have at present. The Government has acted decisively and it has been proven in regard to the bank guarantee scheme and the recapitalisation that, effectively, our proposals and policies were correct.

This is about real people, not banks. It is about the 1.9 million people who are at work in this country and about those who have lost their jobs and ensuring that we give them hope. The clearest point is that we will come through this recession and move on from it. Lessons need to be learned, particularly with regard to the regulator and the Central Bank, and the type of lending that took place previously. These are the issues with which we must grapple.

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