Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach, in his unequivocal support, is also out of touch. On the subject of friends of Fianna Fáil and the Taoiseach, when we introduced the emergency legislation to deal with the bank crisis, it was emphatically stated by the Minister for Finance and the Government that the issue of the recapitalisation of banks did not arise. Then it was subject to analysis and it was suggested that when we made a deep dive into the banks, we would know more. Then, when friends came with a scheme, facilitated by the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, it was all urgent, emergency, secret meetings and rumours in the media, with no clear indication to this House or the other as to what is going on.