Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

That is the unvarnished truth of the situation. The Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Honohan - fair dues to him - told the people this morning what the Taoiseach, under questioning yesterday, failed to tell this House.

The origins of this crisis are in the Government's disastrous banking policy. It was warned when it implemented it that it was on the road to disaster. It was warned in detail by Fine Gael, which for two years has argued that Anglo Irish Bank should be been wound down in an orderly fashion. The concept of moral hazard should have applied and I am sure the Minister is hearing from his colleagues in ECOFIN that the concept of moral hazard needs to be restored to the European Union. Put simply this means that not only those who recklessly invested in Anglo Irish Bank and lost all their money, and those who borrowed recklessly from Anglo Irish Bank and lost those assets should be held to account, but also those who lent recklessly to Anglo Irish Bank should share the burden and the pain like everybody else. Why should reckless lenders who got premium interest rates to cover their risks in lending to Anglo Irish Bank be bailed out by the taxpayer? Why should the responsibility of repayment transfer to the taxpayer from reckless lenders who were getting premium interest rates to lend to the banks?

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