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

I am glad to hear that the Minister is not rushing it, because there is no need to rush it. The State came to AIB's rescue in its hour of need and injected an absolutely colossal amount of money to save the bank - almost €21 billion. People will be glad to hear that over time, albeit an indefinite amount of time, the State will recoup all of that money; the sooner the better, of course, for the sake of taxpayers and our national debt.

If a decision is made to sell some of the State's stake in AIB on the open market, to what use would the proceeds be put in terms of coming into the central Exchequer?

Would they be used to pay down debt, improve the State's capacity to invest in employment initiatives and so forth? The Minister indicated he is preparing the ground for a possible sale of some of the bank next year and given that he believes it is worth in excess of €11.5 billion at this stage, a 20% or 30% stake sale could raise significant moneys for the State. I appreciate it is early days yet but to what use would such moneys be put?

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