Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will explain. That was the only risk to these preference shares. We were getting an interest rate of 10% on them. The Minister sold €1 billion worth of preference shares at par. He was getting 10% from the bank on the shares and borrowing at about 4%, so he had 6%, which is €60 million, of a gain every year from these shares. That would have paid for the reduction to the carer's allowance and left €30 million in change, and all the cuts by the Minister for Social Protection which caused all the rifts in the Government ranks need not have happened.

What did the Minister do? He sold the family silver, the money we put in at a very high coupon. His justification was that the sale proved people had faith in the Bank of Ireland. It did not show any confidence on the Minister's part in the Bank of Ireland because he was getting a fantastic return on his money. He was able to borrow at less than half the lending rate, yet he sold the goose that was laying golden eggs.

Then he made an even more extraordinary statement:

The total value thus far of preference shares and CoCo investments was €7 billion. I wouldn’t be averse to selling the preference shares and contingent capital on par, if you take out what the taxpayer put in. We’re not trying to make a profit on that.

The Minister says he is not trying to make a profit on our investments. What kind of lula land are we living in?

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