David Norris (Independent)

He is extremely balanced and he told the truth when those on the Government side concealed it. That is why they want to deride him. I have a lot more reliance on people like George Lee. Listening to the quality of his voice on the recording last night, there was despair, bewilderment and fury in it. That is what the people feel. If the Government does not get into tune with it, it will certainly find it will get its marching orders at the next election, if not before.

The Minister said the terms of the recapitalisation provide that each bank will have the possibility of redeeming up to €1.5 billion of the State's investment by raising privately sourced core tier 1 capital prior to 31 December 2009. Let us hear the laughter from the Government benches. There is no laughter or sniggering because this is the most idiotic thing I ever heard. Who exactly will invest in these completely discredited institutions? This is on Bloomberg as we speak and is being reported all over the world. Who will invest? This is a completely empty thing.

We must look at this whole circular transaction. Apparently, the money originated in Anglo Irish Bank but from where it got it, I do not know. It then went through Irish Life & Permanent. I read this morning that, apparently, it was divided into two lots. First, €3 billion was put in, which was complete exposure of investors' money as the guarantee scheme was not in place. Then when the guarantee scheme clicked in, it put in another €4 billion. This is endemic and is a disaster for the way in which we appear in the world.

The Dublin Docklands Authority invested in property speculation with Anglo Irish Bank and it has openly said it has not paid a penny in interest in the past six months. What is happening? Get all the toxic assets and dump them into Anglo Irish Bank. That is what it deserves as it has no reputation left and make it a national property management agency.