Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No economy can function without a banking system and banks. When the Government took office at the beginning of 2011, the banks in the country were on the point of collapse. People in this country were taking their money out of the banks and small depositors were crossing the Border to move their money out of Irish banks to put it elsewhere. The Government had to stabilise the banking system in its early stages in office. That is why we moved very quickly at an early stage to the reorganisation of the banking system with pillar banks. The banking system and the country have now stabilised and Bank of Ireland has been able to raise funds and capital on the open markets.

Progress is being made across our banking system. That was a necessary part of the strategy we had to pursue in order to get the country out of the incredible economic hole into which it had been put and which we inherited. As it happens, we are now at the point where we are about to exit the bailout. We are looking at an economy which is growing again, although the growth is modest. We are seeing employment being created in the country at the rate of about 3,000 new jobs per month. We would like to see that accelerated. What we must aim to achieve, now that we have stabilised the banking situation and stabilised what has happened in our public finances, is to drive on to create the jobs, attract the investment, see our economy grow at a faster rate and ensure that the people of this country have jobs, a secure future, a decent income and have decent quality public services. That is our aim and it is what will happen. Stabilising the banking system was necessary and this Government has achieved that. We now have to drive on to get economic growth and jobs and the increased prosperity that will come from a growing economy.

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