Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

They are all financial matters. It is disturbing that until the establishment and operation of the National Asset Management Agency accurate information was not forthcoming from the institutions in regard to the banks. We can have a political argument about budgetary projection. Deputy Higgins and I argued this earlier.

I refer to Deputy Durkan's question. Bonds are traded so the current identity of the owners is unknown. That is the issue because bonds are traded in markets and there is no public register of bonds on the markets.

Deputy English spoke on the idea of a recovery bank. I asked the National Pensions Reserve Fund to examine what profitable investments it can make in Ireland. The NPRF is open in principle to making a profitable investment. One of the big difficulties in setting up a bank is that with State interest at 6% any bank, whether a new recovery bank or an existing one, that seeks to obtain funds to fund its operation overseas, as it must do on top of the additional risk capital the State puts into it, has great difficulties. We must come back and focus on that issue.

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