Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I remind those in Fine Gael and the Labour Party of the banking crisis in 1984. An insurance corporation got itself into trouble and AIB was the major shareholder. The Labour Government came in overnight and bailed out the company, which was the correct thing to do. People on this side of the House agreed with the strategy because one could not have a bank failure even though there were reckless decisions made by insurance underwriters that involved underwriting risks on bush fires in Australia and so on. That is a fact. I remind Deputy Rabbitte that the current Labour Party MEP, Mr. De Rossa, asked numerous Dáil questions and the figure amounted to £450 million which is of the order of €600 million or in today's money probably €1 billion. That was the cost of the bailout for the AIB insurance corporation fiasco in the 1980s. The Labour Party Government took the correct decision in terms of not allowing a bank failure because our reputational interests were at stake.

We borrowed €24 billion last year from foreign bankers. Anyone with an iota of business acumen or a business brain is aware one does not allow one's reputation to be tarnished with a failure of non-payment of debt. If one reneges on a car mortgage, it is a black mark on one's record forever. Deputies can ask any small business person who has ever had the misfortune to have not paid a debt——

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