Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I am surprised at the speed with which the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, has caught up with the facility of his one-time senior Minister in the constituency to bend the truth. The facts are we opposed the blanket guarantee and Mr. Honohan is immensely critical, for a serving governor, of the wisdom of how that guarantee was drawn, and the inaction and dereliction of duty which preceded the night of 29 September.

If a Minister for Finance had descended from Mars on 29 September 2008, he may well have had no choice but to do what Deputy Brian Lenihan did if we leave out matters such as the inclusion of dated subordinated debt, which he should not have done. The Minister for Finance did not descend from Mars on 29 September that year so the question is what happened since people on the streets of this city were seeking to withdraw money from Northern Rock more than 12 months earlier. No action was taken by the Minister for Finance's predecessor, Deputy Brian Cowen, and that put us into that position on 28 September.

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