Alex White (Labour)

There is no guarantee is the answer. The Minister for Finance and the Government announced an intention to provide a guarantee, which was a plan for the future, but there is no guarantee for today. This is a serious situation of which I do not make light as a talking point for debate. However, the seriousness of the situation is increased with a further delay in the presentation of the scheme.

The delay also raises the question of what we were doing here last week in the overnight session. What was the point of it? We passed enabling legislation which has not been acted upon. Therefore, apart from the amendments to the competition legislation which, although important, are marginal, the content of the legislation, the scheme and the guarantee are meaningless because nothing has been carried out. What were we doing here overnight last week? I do not have any difficulty with making myself available, nor do my colleagues. However, the sum total of our efforts adds to nothing because it has changed nothing. Our job is not to provide an overnight supporters' rally for the work of the Government or the Minister for Finance. We are legislators and we are constitutionally required to scrutinise proposed legislation. The scheme was supposed to be brought before the Houses. Unless and until this happens, there is no Irish guarantee; it simply does not exist yet. This is a reflection of the seriousness of the matter.

The Government's intentions are becoming less, rather than more, clear with each day. The Minister for Finance has now indicated, perhaps correctly, the possibility of a limit on the amount of deposits banks can take on. I do not claim he has no basis for the comments, but it shows how unclear things are for us as legislators. The developments in the UK this morning will have implications for foreign owned banks operating in Ireland. They may well be covered by the UK guarantee. That will have implications for what we do with our scheme and there is the wider EU context. The situation is sliding by the day. As for all the talk and congratulations we indulged in last week for being first into the breach, it looks like we may well be one of the last into the breach in completing a proper scheme to put before the Houses and implement a guarantee. I repeat, and I ask the Leader to agree or disagree with me whether I am right, at present, there is no Irish guarantee.