Dáil debates

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

5:00 pm

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Bad decisions in Anglo Irish Bank have been responsible for bringing this country to its knees. Its banking model is utterly broken and will not be revived. It is undertaking no lending to the sectors that can drive our economic recovery. Not one new loan or new job will be created by Anglo Irish Bank. The only purpose of putting money into the bank will be to repay the professional investors. I cannot see a sound economic or moral argument for turning to taxpayers and asking them to do that.

We have heard from Anglo Irish Bank that it believes closing the bank down in an orderly way over a decade or more would be more expensive. Let us be honest. It has not costed that approach. The only strategy that has been costed is one in which all the bond holders would be rescued and have to contribute nothing. There is another strategy with respect to Anglo Irish Bank, namely, what normally happens when a company of no systemic importance to the taxpayer gets into trouble, that its creditors take over and try to recover as much as they can from the debts, loans and assets of the company. That is what happens in capitalism. When people make investments that go sour, they take the consequences. That is not an option that was considered by Anglo Irish Bank, or if it was neither the Minister nor the bank presented the analysis to us. We need to see such an analysis and it has not been presented by the Minister to the House today. That is the nub of the decision we are being asked to make - whether, as the Minister indicated in his speech, this is the only way. I do not believe it is. I can understand how the management of Anglo Irish Bank would not cost that option, because at the end of the day it wants to see the bank as a going concern and to look after the bond holders. The question is whether taxpayers want to see that and if it is in their interests.

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