Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I appreciate the Minister's difficulty, he is trying to ride two horses and keep both options open. He seems to be rowing back on last June's commitment, or at least the commitment given to the people by certain Ministers on the public airwaves at the time. I refer to the idea that we would get back the money pumped into the pillar banks and that it would be fully retrospective. It now seems less likely that we will get back that money on the scale suggested. A clear question arises in this context. When the banks appeared before the committee, they stated they were looking for investors. Are we going to sell to the investors at the market rate which the NTMA has calculated to be approximately €9 billion? There is also some contingent capital which could increase the €9 billion figure. The value of the shares could increase. Alternatively, are we going to hold out on the basis of having the 29 June commitment met in full? In other words, are we going to proceed on the basis that the ESM will recapitalise the banks as they require retrospectively? It is a question of what the Government intends to do. If a proposal comes from the private sector and is identified by the Department and the Central Bank as genuinely meeting the current market value of AIB and Bank of Ireland, will the Government decide to sell or will it decide to hold out to see whether progress can be made with the ESM on getting a value for the recapitalisation based on historic or possibly future value?

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