Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I accept that overall, the State will have made a profit on its rescue of Bank of Ireland a number of years ago. That is to be welcomed. I wish that was the case in respect of the other banks but that is certainly not the position at this point in time.

I will take the Minister up on his observation regarding the comments from the CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, Mr. Prem Watsa, about him being a long-term shareholder in the bank. I remind the Minister that Wilbur Ross said something similar about three months ago when he sold many of his shares in Bank of Ireland. He put on the record then that he had no intention whatsoever of selling the remainder of his shareholding so we must take some of these statements with a pinch of salt. These are investors who will sell at what they regard as the opportune time to maximise the return they get from their investment. It is the Minister's job as the guardian of taxpayers to ensure we are getting the best return as a state for our investment in Bank of Ireland. I accept his statement that we will bide our time. I would interpret that to mean that there will certainly be no short-term sale of the State's shareholding in Bank of Ireland.

I expect that it would certainly not be in advance of the ECB stress tests which will take place over the next number of months but I would like the Minister to comment on the ongoing efforts by the Government to secure retroactive recapitalisation of the banks. The Minister is pursuing that at European level with his colleagues on Ecofin. Where does that negotiation effort sit alongside the Minister's decision-making strategy concerning Bank of Ireland and the other banks? We want to ensure that the Minister is getting the best return possible for the shares we currently hold in the banks but we also want to ensure that our European partners step up to the mark and fulfil their responsibilities relating to the two year old commitment in respect of the separation of banking debt from sovereign debt.

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