Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Yes. The description I have just provided characterises those with whom we are dealing and to some degree it colours our approach to and the action we propose to take in respect of this matter.

It is critical to ensure that we get our relationship with our European Union partners right. We must work with our colleagues in the European Union, who have been extremely supportive. The liquidity the European Central Bank has provided to the State and the guarantee it has advanced in respect of deposits in Irish banks - which affords to people a real sense of security that those deposits are safe - shows that the European Union has assisted Ireland. We must, therefore, work with our European Union partners now in order to ensure that we achieve the right outcome from the difficult negotiations that are taking place. It is not in the interests of our European Union partners to arrive at a debt repayment amount for the Irish State that is not sustainable. Our team is negotiating, in co-operation with our European Union colleagues, to ensure that the latter does not happen because it would be in no one's interests.

We must consider the elements that would be contained in a deal to allow the State to obtain a backstop guarantee in the event that it proves difficult to obtain money from the markets and which will permit the banks obtain capital should it be necessary to do so. I have been informed that the assessment of the stress tests carried out by Mr. Matthew Elderfield and Professor Patrick Honohan to date shows that there is not a huge iceberg of further losses within the banks. In light of the scale of the losses to date, some people feared that such an iceberg was looming beneath the surface. I understand that the stress tests which have been carried out - the IMF and our European Union partners can check the position in this regard - have been shown to have produced a picture which is reasonably accurate.

The need for capital may not be as great as some may fear. In that context, what we need is a contingency fund. I have no doubt that some additional moneys will be required in the context of dealing with some of the restructuring that will have to be done in respect of the banks in order to reduce them to a scale which is manageable and which suits the purposes of the Irish economy. We need to do this quickly and in conjunction with our European partners. That is why I stated earlier that we do not have a long time. In effect, we have days. The contagion effect that has occurred has raised fears in other markets. As Members are aware, fear feeds on itself. It is better, therefore, that we should try to take action quickly and in a collaborative way.

I stand open to correction but I understand that there may have been contacts between the European Union teams and the Opposition parties.

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