Alex White (Labour)

I support and agree with the concerns expressed about the delay in bringing forward the scheme which the Minister for Finance said would come to both Houses. We have seen what happened this morning in the UK. I respectfully disagree with Senator O'Toole in that I do not believe it is accurate to say the UK Government has copied the Irish Government. That is not true. The UK Government has taken preference shares in the banks it has proposed to assist and it has included a requirement that any bank wishing to participate in the scheme must sign up to an agreement on executive pay and dividends. There are many other differences between the UK Government's proposal and what has been done here.

The Financial Regulator has said there is no difficulty with the capitalisation of the Irish banks. Senator O'Toole, as in the past, believes we should accept that statement. However, we have been asked to accept other statements from and about the banks in recent months which have proven to be not true. I note a nuance in the comments of the Minister for Finance this morning. He said, as Senator O'Toole mentioned, he does not believe there is a difficulty with undercapitalisation. However, the Minister for Finance, rather ominously, stated things are changing by the day. Therefore, it is not at all clear that there is not a difficulty with undercapitalisation in Irish banks.

I agree with the comments of Senator Fitzgerald and I ask the Leader to reflect on this matter. What is the current position in Ireland with respect to the guarantee?