Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Is the Minister going to make a comprehensive statement tomorrow in which he will comment on Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide and will he address the funding position and situation of the two main banks, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks?

I wish to close by referring to contagion and confidence. The former is something one does not want in financial markets while the latter is highly desirable. In the two years since the original guarantee was introduced, the Government has systematically destroyed confidence in Ireland, its banks and in Ireland as a sovereign. It has allowed the contagion of Anglo Irish Bank to infect everything. Essentially, the latter has become a virus and a cancer in the body politic and the business community of Ireland. It is time the Government stopped what it is doing.

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