Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

Well, look, the Deputy referred to simple maths. I would refer to a simple understanding of stock markets. I know Deputy Doherty is a little hazy and unclear on the issue of how companies are owned. In regard to AIB, if we were in a position where the financial markets were expecting that the State was not going to reduce its shareholding in AIB over time, of course that would materially affect the value of the shares. The Deputy cannot simply say - he knows this - that if we were still the majority shareholder in AIB, we would be able to sell the shares at a different price. The fact that we were willing to sell the shares in the first place influenced what the price would have been when they were sold. I fundamentally do not accept the argument Deputy Doherty is making. He knows the money we have gained back from the share transactions that have been made. I am at a loss as to why we would want to retain a deep ownership between ourselves and our banking system, given all the difficulties that caused in the past.

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