Alex White (Labour)

I ask for clarity on the matter. The Minister might then answer the bigger question of what happened between July and last Monday. What happened over the past six weeks?

Do Senators MacSharry and Hanafin really believe their claims that we live in a cocoon of virtue or that the problems are arising in the United States? If they repeat their claims often enough maybe they will believe them. More than 60% of the €416 billion lent by Irish lending institutions is property based. We know what has happened in the Irish economy and construction industry. Irrespective of whether this is toxic debt, a phrase which Senator O'Toole does not like, or debt which we can simply describe as dodgy, a significant domestic element is involved. Lending to the construction industry resulted in a splurge.