Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

First, I join the Taoiseach and Deputy Kenny in paying tribute to Gordon Brown and thanking him for the work, in particular, that he has done in regard to this country and Northern Ireland. I wish Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg well as they embark on the leadership of the Government of Britain. Relations between Britain and Ireland greatly improved under the outgoing Labour Government, especially in terms of matters relating to Northern Ireland. It is important that there is a good working relationship between the Government and the British Government. I hope that will continue under the new regime.

We have been talking about the deficit. I wish to refer to the one thing that has contributed, and is contributing most, to the deficit in this country, namely, the continuing story of Anglo Irish Bank. That is the black hole that Fianna Fáil helped to dig and into which €22 billion of taxpayers' money will now have to be put, adding to our national debt. I wish to ask the Taoiseach about an article in The Sunday Times which refers to a set of confidential, internal minutes from a meeting at Anglo Irish Bank dated 18 February 2009 between Anglo Irish Bank and the Central Bank. Reference is made to the fact that the Department of Finance told the then chairman of Anglo Irish Bank not to be too negative in a letter to shareholders relating to the bank's 2008 annual report which was published after the bank was nationalised in early 2009. According to the article, the then chairman, Mr. O'Connor, was also told by the Department of Finance that he should not refer to emergency funding. It is indicated in the article that Mr. O'Connor was anxious that the chairman's statement should tell it as it is. The article, astonishingly, states that the Department of Finance drafted a less negative version of the chairman's statement.

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