Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

——and there will be a levy or charge for that, which we will hear about in due course. However, it will be at market rates.

As I said on the Order of Business, I congratulate the Minister on his decisive action. The officials who were up all night trying to prepare the legislation deserve our gratitude. In this regard we are unlike the United States where there has been dithering over recent months. The partisan wrangling that went on there yesterday was a disgrace and unhelpful to the world. The US, as well as many other countries, can look to what the Government here has done and take similar actions which, as I said on the Order of Business, I believe will help to establish a floor to this international crisis from which we can begin to stage a recovery.

Senator Twomey mentioned the appearance of representatives of the banks at the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, of which I am a member. So much has occurred in the past three months. Last week the bank Wachovia was taken over by Morgan Stanley. Today it was itself taken over by Citibank, and Morgan Stanley by Mitsubishi. By lunchtime yesterday five banks around Europe had to be bailed out. Things are changing so fast that equal fluidity is required in dealing with them. States must be agile and flexible. Our Government has shown that in its actions since last night.

I have mentioned social partnership, the early introduction of the budget, which will contain a number of measures I will mention in a moment, and the developments of last night and today. We look forward to that legislation. As I said, this is not a bail-out of the banks.