Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Today, we are expecting what amounts to the fourth bailout of the Irish banking sector. We had the announcement of the bank guarantee, the recapitalisation announcement and the NAMA announcement. Each of those announcements was, in the words of the Government, designed to get a wall of cash flowing, to sort out the banks and to make credit available for business and SMEs throughout the country, but this has not happened. The impact of the failure of the Government's banking strategy has been that more than 430,000 people are now out of work and we have an unemployment rate that is twice the European average.

Yesterday, the Minister for Finance said that today was the moment for the State to take decisive action to sort out the banking sector once and for all - those were his words yesterday. Will the Taoiseach confirm that the Government has backed off on its stated intention of recapitalisation of Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland today and that, in doing so, it has again prolonged and deepened the uncertainty about the future of both banks?

Second, will the Taoiseach confirm that the Government has decided today to inject a further €8.3 billion of taxpayers' commitment into Anglo Irish Bank? Can he give the House and, as a consequence, the people of Ireland a guarantee that this will be the last such injection into what is a dead bank that is not in a position to lend any money? Will he give me those two guarantees?

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