Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

If they choose to go. The most important thing is that they are being spoken to at the moment prior to the report's publication at 2.15 p.m.

The assessment of the impact of flooding is ongoing. Two insurance companies have decided to provide some funding prior to the full assessment being made. One of my Ministers of State has been in touch regarding that initiative. With regard to the moneys being made available, as has been reiterated on a number of occasions, this initial sum is being made available on the basis of extreme hardship over and above the existing support measures. Further assessments will take place, arising from what has happened and what, unfortunately, may happen in the next number of days.

I have read the report of the chief executive of Allied Irish Banks to the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. The preferred option is to go initially to the international markets and, following the enactment of the NAMA legislation which removes uncertainty in the banking sector, state where we want to be, which is in the international markets and lending to business. That is the chief executive's initial reaction, and rightly so. Only as a second measure would we go to the ECB to deal with the bond situation.

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