Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

We can. Perhaps the Minister thinks we should not have nationalised it and it should have been closed down. If he wants to say that, that is fine.

There are shares to be sold in AIB and there are shares being sold in Bank of Ireland. If the sale of assets in such a bank is worth a lot to the Exchequer, could that money not be used to fund the economic development programme we all want to see, as opposed to selling off ESB assets?

The people in NAMA say over the next ten years, the agency will turn a profit. Precisely the same logic exists as exists for Coillte. If money is to be found in NAMA in the next ten years, why not get the net present value now for the benefit of the taxpayer and to create jobs, instead of waiting for the money to come in dribs and drabs over the next ten years? The same goes for Anglo Irish Bank. The proceeds from the sale of State assets should go to job creation.

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