Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will know as well as I do that share prices go up and down. It was over €5 earlier this year and has fallen considerably since then. There are many reasons for that.

We have no plans to sell any more shares in AIB currently, but over time or at the right time when the share price is good we intend to divest the Government stake in AIB further and use that money to pay down the debt. One reason we are able to borrow so cheaply on the markets at the moment is the fact that our budget is balanced and because the markets understand our commitment to use any sales of shares or any windfall from NAMA to reduce debt. If we were to depart from that policy we would find it could cost us a lot very quickly. The markets have already priced that into their calculations.

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