Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

It is good that the Bank of Ireland made an announcement this morning with regard to its intention to write down its bad debts. When the extent of those bad debts is realised, I am of the view that market support will be created and that the bank's shares will be revalued. Bank of Ireland's shares are quite low in price at present. All of the six institutions covered by the State guarantee should come clean with regard to their bad debts. It may be bad news but it will eventually emerge so why not make it public now?

People should remember that the financial institutions under discussion are in possession of sizeable land banks. While the value of this may be low at present, once there is a scarcity of land and there is an upturn in the economy and demand returns, the price of land will rise. There is a scarcity of land for development in Dublin and other cities. The value of land will increase again in the future.

If we put in place what is termed a "bad bank", perhaps it could operate in the same way as the National Treasury Management Agency in the context of managing the national debt on a long-term basis. This would give an opportunity to address the issue of public housing. It is a disgrace that county councils have 40,000 people on waiting lists for local authority housing. We should address the problem using the land bank. This would be an investment for the future.

This debate provides an important opportunity to receive from the Minister of State a full report on the proposed recapitalisation of the banks and the conditions attaching to it. The directors appointed by the Minister to the boards of the banks must be able to act in accordance with the wishes of members of the public on whose behalf the Government is investing this capital.