Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Finance if he plans to publish a detailed analysis of the options regarding the future of Anglo Irish Bank in view of the growing concerns about his preferred approach. [17484/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have a preferred approach to the future of Anglo Irish Bank as suggested by the Deputy in his question. Indeed, I made that clear in my reply to the debate on banking which took place before Easter. As I told the House on 1 April 2010, my only concern is to minimise the cost to the taxpayer of Anglo Irish Bank. The Deputy will be aware that Anglo is currently updating its restructuring plan to take account of the EU Commission's response on the initial plan submitted by the bank on 30 November last. The plan will examine all options for the bank's future, including immediate liquidation, wind-down over a longer period of time, a split between a good bank and an asset management company, and maintaining the bank in its current form as a going concern. The revised plan is to be submitted to the EU Commission by the end of May of this year. Significant further work remains to be done by the bank and its advisers on the updated restructuring plan to test and verify the assumptions in each scenario for the future of the bank.

The Deputy will appreciate that at this critical juncture in the process and having regard to the commercial sensitivity of the information and the need to ensure proper protocols are observed in dealing with the EU Commission, it is not appropriate for me to publish the details of the plan which is still a draft. The EU Commission in publishing its decision will include all information pertinent to the decision, subject only to an objective assessment on the commercial sensitivity and confidentiality of the information.

I assure Deputy Bruton that my main concern is to ensure that in any plan the interests of the taxpayer are paramount and that my preferred approach to the options presented in the plan will be consistent with that concern. Any plan submitted by the bank will be reviewed by me and my advisers and I will take advice also from the Central Bank, the Financial Regulator and the National Treasury Management Agency.

I have no plans, therefore, to give full details of the worked costings of the options regarding the future of Anglo Irish Bank at this time. I noted Deputy Bruton's article in the Sunday Business Post last Sunday and I am formulating a reply to it.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister obtained any independent estimate of the cost of these various options within Anglo Irish Bank? I ask that question because I heard him quote in the past documents coming from Anglo Irish Bank in respect of its estimate. It based that estimate on the basis that the loans being transferred to NAMA were worth €26 billion when it transpired it was out by €7 billion. There was a massive gap. Are we depending on the somewhat rose-tinted assessments that are conducted within Anglo Irish Bank for the direction of public policy in this area or has the Minister independent assessment? If so, will he publish that assessment?

It cannot have escaped the attention of the Minister that even the former chairman of the finance committee is now taking issue with the notion of Anglo Irish Bank as a going concern and believes we should opt for an orderly wind-down. Has the Minister moved away from the notion that Anglo is a going concern? Has he abandoned that which was the pillar of the Government's approach for a very long time and repeated time and again by him and the Taoiseach?

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has asked a number of questions. To give a context to this debate we should heed what the Governor of the Central Bank had to say. He stated:

Let me make it absolutely clear about Anglo. The management have a plan and broadly I think the plan makes a lot of sense. [Note, he said "broadly"]. I think that is the lowest cost solution for the taxpayer and therefore I am backing that.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Was that its first plan or the new plan?

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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He is talking about its new plan. I take it he has discussions-----

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thought we had seen it.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I have not seen it.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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But he has seen it.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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He may not have seen it but let us be clear. The Deputy's first question was whether the Government obtained independent advice about these matters. That is an important question. The Government had retained Rothschilds as independent commercial advisers in all these matters. The Government also has the NTMA to advise it on these matters. The Government established an independent statutory body, NAMA, to give a good, honest valuation of the loan book, which we obtained. There were many who argued - the Deputy was not among them, in fairness - that we should simply split each bank in two and let each bank decide the value of its defaulting loan book. We did not do that, and I am not suggesting the Deputy urged it by the way but quite a number of commentators in the NAMA debate did suggest it.

Let us be clear. The Government has independent advice. I am open to suggestions from all parties as to the way the cost can be minimised but it is important that we recognise that the bank must formulate a plan with which I do not interfere. At that stage, I assess and express my views on the plan and engage on it with the Commission. The Central Bank, Financial Regulator and National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, are available to advise and comment on the plan.

Deputy Bruton's final point relates to Anglo being a going concern, which is important in terms of access to funding for Anglo Irish Bank. This remains the position until final definition is brought to the future of Anglo Irish Bank through approval of an EU restructuring plan. On the restructuring plan, I made clear in the Statements on Banking in the week prior to Easter that I do not see the prospect of an immediate wind-up, which is earnestly desired by large segments of the population, as being of benefit the taxpayer.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I call Deputy Bruton on a brief supplementary.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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However, I do accept that a longer-term work out is an option that must be examined. The question raised by the chairman-designate of the bank in regard to the possibility of exposure to the taxpayer being further reduced by carving a good bank, from which further profit can be made, out of the loan book of the bank will also have to be examined.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. Did Rothschilds endorse the first Anglo version that assumed its loans transferring to NAMA would be far more valuable? This might give us an idea of the quality of the advice the Minister is getting from Rothschilds. Also, when will the House see legislation for the orderly resolution of a bank that is no longer of systemic importance to this country? We have been waiting for this legislation, without which we cannot have proper options on the table. When will this long promised legislation come before the House?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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A final reply from the Minister.

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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On the resolution legislation, work on it is under way in my Department. It is complex legislation. The United Kingdom succeeded in drawing up legislation but, in many respects, the implications of it have been found to be unsatisfactory. Other jurisdictions which have attempted to formulate such legislation have failed to date to do so. I am engaged in this operation, as are my officials. However, the House will appreciate that the core priority for me at this stage in regard to the five actual institutions that have been taken into NAMA is to have a credible posture and future planned for them. We have already finalised this in respect of Bank of Ireland. A capital plan in respect of Allied Irish Bank must be submitted by the end of this month. We are making rapid progress in that regard.

I agree with the Deputy that this matter of a resolution device is important for the future. In terms of the institutions, what is needed now is a tailored plan for each of them. Where Anglo Irish bank is concerned that tailored plan must be determined in the context of the discussions with the European Union and the structural plan.