Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are treating banks the way we treat every other business. Every other business has the ability to treat its losses in a certain way. As the Deputy will be aware, the way losses are treated on the balance sheets of banks has an impact on banks' value and ability to perform. I did not indicate at any point that our banks are unprofitable. In many cases, they have returned to profitability. I want to use that higher level of profitability to create a means by which over time we can get back from these banks the money that was invested to save them. The Deputy was very critical of that decision at the time. As such, I would have thought he would support a strategy that allows us to get that money back. Changing this policy at this point would lose the money we have invested in these banks on behalf of the taxpayer. Crucially, even with the higher levels of profitability, it would result in lower lending and higher interest rates for customers, outcomes I want to avoid. If those things were to happen, the Deputy would also be critical.

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