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

This is essentially the same question that was answered earlier. I have my own views and understand things can evolve. A script has been followed by the Minister and the Department in order to return AIB to profitability and everybody agrees that it was the intention of the bank to enter profitability at the end of the year. It is welcome that this aim has been achieved. The idea was to fatten the bank and sell it. When he appeared before the finance committee last year, Mr. David Duffy spoke about meeting people in America and so on and being ready if the Government decided to sell shares. That has always been on the cards. I agree that we should not examine this matter before the retroactive recapitalisation issue is dealt with. We have not even passed the legislation to deal with it. The Minister committed at the finance committee to make an application and the signals being sent to the Minister's colleagues on the board of governors of the European Stability Mechanism are that there is a greater option being pursued outside retroactive recapitalisation. It weakens the argument. As the Minister did not indicate it yesterday, will he say in Parliament today that he will make an application for retroactive recapitalisation of AIB and the other banks in which we hold shares?

See this speech in context