Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I am obliged. The question I was pursuing yesterday with the Taoiseach is what efforts the Government has made or is making to save the jobs at Halifax and in respect of the people who have mortgages with that bank. I made the point that in many cases these are 100% mortgages, some of which might now be more exposed than would otherwise be the case. The Tánaiste has confirmed that the Government knew some time ago what Halifax had in mind. While official notification in this regard only came in the day before yesterday the Government knew about it.

Perhaps the Tánaiste will tell the House what efforts the Government or she has made to save jobs at Halifax and to address the needs of the people who hold mortgages with that company.

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