Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

Deputy Rabbitte remarked that this is one of the most defining days for the public in terms of the level of funding the ordinary taxpayer is being asked to put into various institutions, in particular, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, which are effectively defunct institutions. People are entitled to ask questions. The public has a great degree of common sense. A person running a household or who is in business and who is watching the debate may ask how has it arisen that the Government, on behalf of the taxpayer, is putting €22 billion into Anglo Irish Bank and €2.7 billion into Irish Nationwide Building Society, which will result in no return to the taxpayer.

Furthermore, other options have not been considered. Deputy Kennedy made reference to the fact that Fianna Fáil wishes to stamp out corruption and to deal effectively with the banking system. If this is his belief, then let the Government publish the advice and calculations done by Anglo Irish Bank and the advice received by the Government on the recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank to the tune of a further €18 billion. The Government should publish the advice and evidence given to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance on 29 September 2008 when the guarantee scheme was put in place.

I would have expected the Green Party, which put itself forward as the guardian of moral hazard for many years, to seek such publication. However, all we have seen in recent days is one Green Party representative after another coming out to defend the indefensible. I suggest the Green Party has paid a very high price for a second Minister of State position. It has come out and defended placing money into Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide and has been scare-mongering about leaving the eurozone. It has done exactly what Fianna Fáil has been doing but, at times, it has done so better. Shame on the Green Party. We need a proper debate because the people are entitled to know that all the options were viewed, in particular in respect of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide. One could go through the institutions involved because we are here to make statements on banking. I refer to the recapitalisation of the banks and NAMA. Anglo Irish Bank has received €22 billion in total, made up of €18 billion by way of promissory notes.

The European Commission stated as late as yesterday that it is conducting an in-depth investigation into the funds put in by the Government on behalf of the taxpayer to date. It has concerns in terms of the distortion of the competition represented by Anglo Irish Bank. Since the Government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, the bank is paying interest at rates higher than other banks and it is putting other banks under pressure apart from the banks getting into this mess in the first place. They must increase deposit rates which follows an increase in mortgage rates to already hard-pressed mortgage holders. Anglo Irish Bank is a zombie bank, it is defunct and will never lend a red cent. As the Minister of State, Deputy White, is well aware €22 billion represents the combination of the health and education budgets combined each year. The Green Party extolled the virtues of the education budget, in particular. Now it is putting that at risk by supporting the Government in borrowing between €6 billion and €8 billion a year, being the requirement for the recapitalisation of the banks and for NAMA.

Irish Nationwide Building Society was set up to provide residential mortgages. In recent years it effectively ended up entering the commercial market. The Government is taking the bulk — €2.7 billion is being recapitalised — of its loan book to NAMA with no sign of a return.

AIB must raise €7.4 billion. For how much in further funds will the Government be going back to the taxpayer to cover the amount that it must put into AIB? We received many reports from the Minister for Finance that he would play hard ball with AIB, yet he has given it time to come up with a plan and to sell assets. Ultimately, for how much will the taxpayer be caught on the hoof for AIB?

Bank of Ireland falls into a different category, needing to raise €2.7 billion. Already, €3.5 billion has gone into the bank.

Then we come to NAMA. The Minister spoke of the haircut of 47%. Only 20% of the assets of the banks are gone into NAMA in the first tranche. How much will be the haircut for further recapitalisation? The question that must be asked here is, does the Government know what it is doing and is it in the best interests of the taxpayer? We have had no proper debate.

On the issue of the flow of credit, Mr. John Trethowan has been set up as the credit receiver. Once again, there are limits on this scheme. There is no time limit in terms of the review. People must go through an internal review process within the bank and there is no time limit as to when the credit reviewer will carry out their review. By that time, their business could be gone.

This scheme is limited to facilities of €250,000. Many businesses would have a facility far in excess of that figure. We want to look after the smaller business but we also must look after the medium-sized ones, which provide a great deal of employment like the smaller employers.

The scheme also has no statutory footing. It is founded on moral persuasion. We are being told by the Government that it will look at it based on how AIB and Bank of Ireland, the two main banks, react. I am not including Anglo Irish Bank in that category. Anglo Irish Bank is a developers' bank. It does not facilitate normal business such as personal accounts with ATM facilities, and it does not have a network.

Yesterday's report from Anglo Irish Bank was not an annual report in that it covered 15 months. The previous set of accounts were for the period up to 30 September 2008. It speaks of €15 billion of losses. It is horrific.

The report shows €2 million of payments to three directors. Mr. David Drumm got €654,000 in normal salary and a sum in excess of that amount in a bonus for a previous year, €659,000, amounting to €1.3 million in total. Mr. William McAteer got in total €240,000 in normal salary and pension, and not quite double that figure, €439,000, in a bonus payment for a previous year, amounting to €679,000 in total. Mr. Seán FitzPatrick got €131,000. One of these three individuals has a house in America worth $4 million and he has taken out insurance on a claim against it. What about the ordinary taxpayer who, effectively, cannot take out insurance?

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