John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak about bank restructuring. I listened to most of the debate this morning and I want to raise a couple of issues. This is a very serious discussion and I share much of the sentiment shared by Members on all sides of the House. There is a sense of disgust which the general public and Members have that the State has been forced into a position of restructuring our banks and potentially place significant liability on the shoulders of ordinary taxpayers for some of the reckless practices which have been ongoing for a number of years in the banking sector in this country.

One could laugh at some of the contributions and particularly that of a former Minister, Deputy O'Dea. He spoke this morning about his disappointment in the announcement from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, about the two pillar banks and how we would have no competition in the banking sector in this country as a result of the Government's actions. The lack of competition is a direct result of the policies which the Deputy and his friends in the Government pursued for 14 years. We have been forced into a position where the new Government must step into the breach to restructure our banking system and potentially place enormous liabilities on the shoulders of ordinary taxpayers.

In my area Fianna Fáil Deputies are posing the question of having a referendum on the bailout. That issue was not discussed at the time of the last election and it was certainly not raised by any of them during their time in Government and over the past three years in particular. Most of the Minister's announcement last Thursday concerned an effort to restore confidence in the Irish economy and the banking sector in particular. The notion of a referendum at this juncture would destroy such confidence.

Deputy Boyd Barrett has left the Chamber but spoke earlier about the Minister's comments on Bank of Ireland share prices. The Minister was not referring to people who had invested in Bank of Ireland shares but he was using the issue, as anybody would, as a measure of the confidence of the market in what the Government announced last Thursday. Some confidence has become apparent as a result of last week's announcement. Deputy Boyd Barrett should speak to the person who was beside him, Deputy Wallace, as he argued that there was no demand in the economy for credit. There is much demand for credit and anybody with dealings with business people knows there is a significant demand, with many viable businesses not receiving that credit. That is what the restructuring is aimed at.

Deputy McDonald said earlier that there was no change in direction but a clear change was announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, last week. This package is all about restructuring our banking system and having a plan as to how the system will work in future. It is the first time we have had such a plan and the Fianna Fáil-led Government did not even manage to produce that much. There is also an effort to give people a sense of the scale of the problem and the Government having a handle on how big are the difficulties in our banking sector.

I will speak from a personal perspective at this stage as this is my first contribution in the Dáil. Many of my friends, including people I went to school and college with, as well as those I have known all my life, are suffering most from what has gone on in banking circles in the country for the past ten years. These are the people living in Canada, Australia, Britain and other parts of the world because of decisions made in this country, especially those relating to the property bubble. I am content that the Minister, with his announcement last week, is making a genuine effort on behalf of the Government to get to grips with the difficulties in the banking sector and to put a final figure on the resolution to this difficulty.

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