Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

We can understand the systemic importance of the two big banks with branches in every town in Ireland but why did the Government decide to give a guarantee to what was a piggy bank for rogue developers in many cases, as we now know? We have seen that within four months it had to be nationalised, with huge sums of the taxpayers' hard-earned money put in to keep it afloat. These decisions should be investigated.

Why did the Government decide, for example, to include dated subordinated debt, which I asked about at the time but did not get an answer in the debate on the guarantee scheme? With whom did the Government members meet on the day it was decided to bring in the guarantee scheme? Was a Bill prepared, as we heard, on that occasion to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank prior to the introduction of the guarantee scheme? Why did it not proceed?

What the Government is proposing will exclude any investigation of these issues. Will the Taoiseach agree, at a minimum, to include in this process of investigation of any kind concerning the banking system the decisions made by the Government in September 2008, the reasons for them and the discussions which were had leading to them?

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