Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The initial reaction to the Nyberg report has been one of disappointment. Irish people like facts and names; they like to know what actually happened. The report is a generalisation; we already knew most of the information provided. We wanted to know what advice was given to both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance prior to the giving of the bank guarantee and who gave the advice. The advice given was known to be incomplete and incorrect. The former Minister is in the Chamber but is probably not in a position to enlighten the House. I hope that at a later date an Oireachtas committee will investigate the matter as I strongly believe the information given was inaccurate and that somewhere along the line this inaccurate information was knowingly fed into the system and resulted in a catastrophic decision being made by the previous Government, supported by others in the House.

The banking difficulties which led to the IMF and EU deal have created a certain vulnerability in Ireland, which should not be the case. We have seen our consolidated tax base coming under attack and this is as important as our corporation tax rate. We must maintain these rates as fiscal policy is our responsibility. I attended a meeting with President Sarkozy at the French Embassy and if my memory serves me, he clearly stated tax matters were for the Irish Government alone to decide. I took notes at the time and hope to dig them out shortly to confirm this, but that is my clear memory.

We should not allow ourselves to be bullied in Europe. Some people have adopted the deny, attack and reverse victim and offender, DARVO,principle, most notably Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a member of the European Central Bank since 2005. I do not know why he made his recent comments because if he had carried out a close examination of the banks in Germany, Italy and France, he would have found many questions to be answered there also. Deputy Bernard Durkan mentioned the rebuilding of bridges in Europe, but we have nothing of which to be ashamed. We have suffered from greed, but that is as old as time itself; it is not a quality unique to the Celts. Many nations have carried out grave atrocities and made mistakes through generations. We should proceed with a positive and progressive approach.

Until there is an alignment of interests where banks and bankers are congruent with the good of the economy and its shareholders, there will be a problem. The report outlines lessons to be learned and one of the most worrying aspects is that measures we have taken to date may not prevent a recurrence of what happened in the past. There are many policy issues referred to, but it behoves us to decipher what is in contained in the report and implement measures to ensure, in so far as we can, that we will not have a repeat of the current crisis.

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