Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Today we learned that Ireland has come first in something. We have come first in the league table for having the worst bank in the world. We are told today that Anglo Irish Bank is the biggest lose-maker of any bank in the world, and that is on top of the fact that the Irish bank bailout is the most expensive bailout anywhere in the world. Yet the Government is proposing to guillotine the debate on the Central Bank Reform Bill, which deals with regulatory matters governing banks, at 1 p.m. today. Some 56 amendments to the Bill have been tabled for discussion. By the time the debate on the Bill adjourned last night the House has reached the fourth of those amendments. There is no possibility that those 56 amendments will be dealt with, and certainly not dealt with adequately, by 1 p.m. today. On the day we discover we have the worst bank in the world-----

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