Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

-----and whose property interests and prosperity were bound up with the fortunes of Anglo Irish Bank. I believe that is why the decision was made and I have heard nothing to the contrary since then. That is why I am asking the Taoiseach to publish all the advice he had available to him on that occasion. If my belief is correct, and I have not been convinced to the contrary, that decision was an act of economic treason for which this country is now paying very dearly.

Yesterday, we got a very big bill for Anglo Irish Bank. That rotten institution acted as a piggy bank for property speculators, was described in strident terms by the Minister for Finance as having been reckless in the manner in which it conducted its business and has caused the huge problem we now face in our economy. We will get the new unemployment figures in a few minutes. People have lost their jobs as a result of this. This bill is equal to the sum total of the pay cuts and pension levy in the public sector.

The responsibility is on the Taoiseach to explain why it was necessary to provide Anglo Irish Bank with the extensive and broad guarantee that has now landed us in a situation whereby it will cost €40 billion to keep it going and even more to wind it up.

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