Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

My charge is not against Brian Cowen, citizen. It is against the Taoiseach in his capacity as Minister for Finance. He attended a private dinner organised by a person who was then a member of the board of Anglo Irish Bank and was dealing with risk competition in the bank. He met those bankers and he knew there were difficulties in the property sector because of the IMF report on his desk. He knew of the dealings of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority because he extended borrowing facilities to them. He knew from the Financial Regulator of the difficulties with a senior investor in Anglo Irish Bank, Mr. Seán Quinn. Yet this function, one of many functions the Taoiseach attended, had no relevance to the Irish taxpayer or the Irish economy, whom the Taoiseach, in his capacity as Minister for Finance at the time, was expected to defend.

The situation with regard to Anglo Irish Bank is deteriorating on a continuing basis. The published element of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers report told us that the extent of liability was about €3 billion, then it became €6 billion. Yesterday, the Government injected €8.3 billion into the bank and we are told of a further €10 billion on top of that. To boot, the Minister for Finance has said that may not be all. The cost of dealing with what the Taoiseach considers is not just a systemic bank but one that is very close, guarded and protected by the Taoiseach and his party, is rising on a consistent basis-----

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