Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The version of the Minister, Deputy Gormley, of how the decision was taken, which is now contradicted by the Taoiseach, demonstrates the dysfunctional way in which the Government made the decision on the blanket bank guarantee. It is probably no surprise, therefore, given the uncertainty about how the decision was made that the wrong decision was made. There is now no doubt but that the decision to provide the kind of blanket guarantee that was included in that decision was a wrong decision, as was the Government's strategy on NAMA and the Government's neglect of jobs in the past three years which has us in the situation where for the 18th successive month the number of people out of work is more than 400,000. It is that succession of mismanagement, mistakes and bad judgment that has us here today, facing what has been described by many as the worst budget the country has ever faced and which is to be announced in approximately an hour.

I and the Labour Party are concerned that another bad decision by Government to take €6 billion out of the economy, to adjust the budget by €6 billion, is a dangerous strategy for the country. It will damage our prospects for recovery-----

See this speech in context