Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

A suggestion has been made as part of the posturing that it should have been allowed to fail and I want to go back to what Professor Honohan's report says on that. It says the systemic importance of Anglo Irish Bank at that time cannot be seriously disputed. He goes on to argue that the interconnectedness of Anglo Irish Bank vis-À-vis the Irish banking system meant that: "A disorderly failure of Anglo would have had a devastating effect on the remainder of the Irish banks". Those are the objective facts as decided upon by Professor Honohan in regard to that matter. The Financial Regulator, who is the person with the statutory authority and duty in this matter, will come forward with a figure which he, to the best of his ability, has been able to gauge at this point, as to what the overall position will be in regard to that particular bank. It will be reported on that basis.

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