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Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: An assessment has to be made by Government on that matter. Good work was done by the all-party committee and a great deal of time was spent on it. The question of children's rights is a complex area and how that plays into the Constitutional rights framework is an important factor, which we need to address in an appropriate way. The Cabinet has not yet made a decision on when and how to...

Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: Basically it is question of ensuring that there are not unintended effects and that one brings forward a proposal that is appropriate and meets the requirements of the situation. The merits of the proposal cannot be discussed in the House until we have a structured debate on it and party spokespersons who have studied the matter in great detail can discuss it some time. Whether it is...

Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: A lot of progress is being made based on the action plans that have been drafted. The Croke Park agreement is about delivering change at ground level in ways which will vary from place to place depending on the skill sets, mix of skills and numbers and all the rest of it that goes with the activity in which they are engaged. It is not a uniform, top-down approach. It is about working at...

Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: What agreement?

Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: Our position on the Croke Park agreement has not changed and we are keen to see its accelerated implementation. It is on the basis of getting the changes envisaged by the full implementation of the agreement that we have been able to give our commitments. Our commitments are given in the context of full implementation. In the absence of full implementation, the ability of the Government to...

Programmes for Government (18 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: I am not aware of the specifics in particular issues. Action plans are in place in the Department of Justice and Law Reform and the Garda Síochána to deal with the issue raised by Deputy Kenny. I will bring it to the attention of the various authorities, which must be aware of it, to see what plans are in place in the event of reduced recruitment in the future and how the personnel...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: I am not too sure if it was just in relation to the introductory statement Deputy Kenny made that I regarded whatever he said with contempt, but there was basically the assertion that in some way there is an untoward issue that arises as a result of any contact that took place. That is a narrative which has been conducted by the Opposition on an ongoing basis. When one gets to the nub of...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: That is the narrative that the Labour Party and Fine Gael - the latter from time to time, though not as often - have put about non-stop. Of course, it resonates for them and they are obviously getting some votes out of it. I want to make it as crystal clear as I possibly can that every decision we made at a time of great crisis in this country was objectively based. Everything we did was...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: It did and it is on the record. It said there should be no guarantee when I and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, came into the House on 29 September.

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: If there had been no guarantee, that bank and all the banks would have failed. The party then argued: "It was not a systemic bank, it was your friend's bank; that is why you saved it."

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: It is not, because it is a systemic bank. Professor Honohan says so and that it is beyond question-----

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: If the Deputies want me to quote him, I can do so. I have the quotation.

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: It is beyond question that is the case. Let us not distort the facts. One of the points I would like to make in the House, which I will finalise in terms of the first of the questions Deputy Kenny asked me, is that people can have differences of opinion about many matters. In any crisis, one can consider a number of options and decide what is the best approach. We took the most assertive...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: We were the first country to have to take the guarantee option. Subsequently, Denmark came forward with a guarantee option and used senior debt. The template of all the guarantee options is that of Sweden, which introduced a blanket guarantee in the 1990s when it had to try to save its banking system. Of course, circumstances are different in every country-----

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: Even if one considers the initial Northern Rock guarantee, one will note it had to be widened by the British Government a short time after its introduction because it did not, I presume, provide sufficient credibility for the markets to ensure the run on the bank would stop. Hindsight is great and people do not want to talk about the subordinated debt, which was 3.3% of the total. The Labour...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: First of all, regarding the question on whether executives at the meeting in April outlined some of their positions, I am not sure whether it happened.

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: I do not have a written contemporaneous note of what went on. I do not remember every aspect. I am not trying to be opaque.

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: I am trying to be honest about what I recall and do not recall. Let me be straight with the Deputy. I want to be straight with the people, which is more important.

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: Whatever was said did not suggest the bank was about to go under. I guarantee the House that was not the situation. The issues were the nose dive in the commercial property market, which took place in the second half of 2008, and all the corporate governance issues that arose afterwards. This is not the point anyway. The central suggestion here is that, by having this contact, I did things...

Leaders' Questions (12 Jan 2011)

Brian Cowen: I acted appropriately at all times. I acted in the same way at that meeting as my predecessor would have acted at quarterly meetings I am sure he attended, and-----

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