Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I do not think Senator Norris was here for the Minister's entire contribution. He can correct me if I am wrong. The Minister has taken strong issue with the article in The Irish Times to which Senator Norris referred. In both Houses, he has emphatically made the argument that the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank is a systemic issue. He has argued that the bank is not something that can simply be discarded without consequences. When I attended a meeting of the IMF in Washington I heard a senior spokesman for the American treasury admit that what had caused a great deal of the problems was its decision to let Lehman Brothers fail. We have been determined not to make the same mistake.