Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

While the recent amendments have made the legislation stronger and better, there is still fundamental concern regarding the fund. There is a need for a bank resolution Bill. While many of the tools in the Bill are unlikely ever to be used in the case of a bank, I believe they will be used in relation to credit institutions. They need to be there. We have advocated the inclusion of some of them but there remains a fundamental flaw in the Bill. The Minister for Finance, on behalf of the State, can inject our money into the fund, which would lead to the restructuring of the banks. It would be remiss of me and my party to support such a mechanism not knowing what the final cost would be of a major restructuring of one of the larger institutions if, God forbid, that were necessary some time in the future.

On that basis I oppose the passage of the Bill.

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