Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

What the Central Bank said yesterday confirmed the tragedy facing so many people in mortgage arrears. I am worried, however, that yesterday's warnings from the watchdog have not been heard. The dog that did not bark in 2008 is barking very loudly today. I hope the Taoiseach has not missed the warning that came from the big guns in the Central Bank, namely, the Governor and the deputy governor. The deputy governor said he was not comfortable with the behaviour of the bankers. He went on to say the bankers were "overwhelmed" by the scale of the problem. We should be very worried about the bigger picture as well as the smaller picture. His boss, Governor Honohan, also issued a veiled warning. In Central Bank speak, it was a serious warning. He said he believed there was no immediate need for new capital. This gels with the comment of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, when he said that as of today – which was last week – the banks do not need new capital. What is scary about the mortgage arrears problem is that we are going down a similar road to 2008 because the banks are notably not writing down the loans adequately in their balance sheets. The Taoiseach was asked to comment on a report from Deutsche Bank issued last Friday. I understand that he could not comment-----

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