Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Just prior to entering the Chamber I received a copy of the report of the Mahon tribunal. Obviously, I have not had the opportunity to read it yet. We will all have the chance to read and consider that report during the course of the day and over the weekend. I hope that it will be possible to make arrangements, through the Whips, for the House to engage in a comprehensive debate on the Mahon tribunal's report during next week.

Deputy Higgins is correct in stating that the matters the tribunal was asked to investigate are not unrelated to the difficulties this country faces today. The issue with which the Government is dealing at present involves renegotiating the terms of the bail-out relating to the former Anglo Irish Bank. In a sense, this involves tackling the mess that was created as a result of the need to deal with a financial institution which was the piggy bank for the property bubble that brought the country's economy to its knees. As we know from some of the evidence presented to the Mahon tribunal, certain aspects of the property bubble were, unfortunately, connected to corrupt acts performed by particular individuals. What is at issue here is related to the difficulties the Government has in the context of managing its way out of the mess it inherited from the previous Administration. The latter includes dealing with the issue of the promissory note and the requirement whereby Irish taxpayers will be obliged to pay more than €3 billion in cash every year for ten years in order to bail out the former Anglo Irish Bank.

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