Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The point has been well made by Deputies Burton and Noonan to the effect that the Minister is a one-man legislature. This Bill will be waved around classes in UCD, Trinity College and the education colleges for many years to come, whereby the Minister has taken unto himself powers that need neither the House or the Constitution. Again, he has not adequately explained why he needed to convert himself into a one-man legislature.

Deputy Noonan suggests that it is the preamble that gets the Minister off the hook. The preamble is fascinating because it is not a feature of Irish law making. We do not have this in Irish law making, generally speaking. As a result of it he would be free to make any type of law he likes for the plebs. I do not know why we have opted for this pattern that is more prevalent in the Mother of Parliaments than it is here.

The Minister must explain to us what this peculiar provision is in section 4 which provides that the purpose of the Act is "to continue the process of reorganisation...". There is very little reorganisation continuing, since we are exactly where we were when we were discussing the NAMA Bill. A few of the lads have relocated themselves outside the jurisdiction, but the institutions are not reorganised.

One of the purposes of the Bill is "to continue the process of reorganisation, preservation and restoration of the financial position of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Limited begun with the Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Act 2009". This has been raised by a couple of colleagues and we still do not have an answer as regards what it means. All we know is that the chairman of the corporation told the New York Times that he thought the €35 billion provided would not be enough. The Minister told us that €10 billion of it would be needed, probably, and quickly, but that the other €25 billion would be in a contingency fund and the Lord help whoever might touch it, as it was unlikely to be drawn down. However, here we seem to be committed to a programme of restoration adn preservation. Anglo Irish Bank is preserved in the minds of the Irish people forever.

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