Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

It was an off-the-cuff speech, on which I compliment him. As speeches go it was a good speech. He said we all need to pull together and only on that basis will we get out of these problems, which is an important point. However, in our respective roles in this, the Government governs. The Taoiseach has earned the right to govern because at the last general election he convinced the country that Fianna Fáil was the only party to manage the economy, and govern he should. The role of the Opposition is to provide constructive opposition. We should not suspend our critical faculties, but assist the Government by pointing out the faults in legislation and also suggesting alternatives, which is what we have done. By way of engagement it was Deputy Kenny's initiative to seek a meeting with the Taoiseach, which will take place this evening along with our spokesperson on finance, Deputy Bruton, on ways to face up to the bank situation and their recapitalisation. It is important to note the role of Opposition and to recognise our respective roles. In that connection, the ECB has produced guidelines on bad banks and how to deal with the issue of toxic assets, insurance and recapitalisation. I ask whether the Government is taking full account of those guidelines which have just been issued by the ECB.