Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem for the Government is that the bankers are being included as part of the solution. They should no longer be regarded as such, as stated by Ms Muldoon yesterday. She said the bankers are in denial such that they deny there is any problem at all. Like Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield, they are looking for something to turn up. Ms Muldoon was saying the banks are waiting and postponing. They are waiting for the economy and housing market to improve. They are waiting for anything to come to their rescue, including the insolvency Bill. However, this will not sort out the problem, which has the potential to make the night of the bank guarantee look like a picnic. This is because the banks involved are not just in denial, they are, according to Ms Muldoon, involved in a policy of "extend and pretend". That means denial but it also means delay and deceit. The Government is trying to involve people, who are well practised in this area, in what it regards and what may well be a logical process of insolvency. The process the Taoiseach has outlined will not succeed if those people and their institutions carry so much influence.

We know the bankers have been involved in deceit not just in this matter but in respect of the amount of money they claim is being given to small businesses. They have lied to the Government, the Central Bank and the people. They are pretending that what they had as old loans, including those associated with Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Scotland (Ireland), represents new lending. It is not new lending. The banks are lying about these figures and other matters. These bankers cannot be treated as normal human beings, nor can their practices be treated as normal. This is what Ms Muldoon was saying yesterday. The banks are frustrating Government and Central Bank policy and they are delaying and obscuring. This was echoed by Mr. John Moran when he said the banks would have to recognise that some debts would not be paid. Is the Taoiseach satisfied that State-owned bodies, which are ultimately under his control, are patently frustrating the wishes and designs of his regulator?

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