Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I concur with Senators Fitzgerald and O'Toole. Something is seriously amiss about the way in which the House is being left in the lurch by the Government and the lack of details and debate on the many important issues to which Senators referred. We heard a great deal about banks yesterday and they are still very much in the news today. This is one of the most important issues facing us because the only reason we want to save the banks is to save the economy. Senators are aware that lay-offs and redundancies are taking place every day. While we have had a big, bold headline about the €10 billion co-fund, the fund is still not in place and we do not have any details about how it is to be utilised.

In the first instance, the Government should move with the shareholder but it is at cross-purposes with the banks. It is waiting for the banks to tell it which two of the six institutions are most vulnerable to be merged or taken over. The banks will not do so. It is also waiting for the banks to agree that the officials who received bonuses in the past five years on false pretences will fall on their swords. They will not do so. The Government needs to get real with the banks about the bail-out or the economy will continue to be starved of cash and the businesses for which Senators have such great sympathy will not be able to get the lines of credit and working capital they require to continue. The banks are prepared to make money available——