Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It paid €8.5 billion for €15 billion in loans and it expects to recover the value of those loans over its seven to ten year lifetime. That is the purpose of the NAMA operation. Elements of this morning's debate seem to suggest that we are handing over money to the banks and getting nothing in return. We are getting assets to the value of the bonds we are giving to the banks over that period.

If the Deputy asked anyone, including present and past governors, they would say Anglo Irish Bank was of systemic importance. I am not simply saying that; it is acknowledged. The Deputy does not acknowledge it and argues instead that it should have been let go to the wall. He has just heard that if we had not guaranteed Anglo Irish Bank on that occasion and it went to the wall with a disorderly failure in the system, the result would have been a contagion throughout the entire system because of the interconnectedness of our banks. It was not a case of letting something go to the wall without consequence. We were not in a position to take any risk in regard to the financial system. The financial guarantee provided us with the means by which we could avoid an implosion in the banking system in Ireland. The Deputy might not want to accept that but it is a fact. That night's decisions were made on the basis of advice from and discussion with the relevant people, including the Governor of the Central Bank, Department of Finance officials and regulators.

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