Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

There is an Alice in Wonderland quality about what is going on in Government at the moment when we hear the Minister for Finance say that he did not read the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. We have been asking for details of that report in this House for months. It is utterly extraordinary that the Minister said yesterday that he did not read the critical parts of the report and did not read it in full. Neither the Taoiseach nor Ireland's European Commissioner read the Lisbon treaty. I wonder what sort of Government we have if key documents are not being read by our Ministers. What trust can the people have in them? This morning 1,100 workers in north County Dublin got a body blow and we have a Government that did not know that €7 billion was moved between banks even though it was detailed in a report that it got. That amount is the same as will be given to recapitalise the two main banks. I am very concerned that adequate regulation is still not in place. I ask the Leader to convey this concern to the Government.

I heard the Minister's announcement about regulation last night. However, is it adequate? Is it strong enough to have one in four directors? Who will the directors be? In the 1980s we talked about the old boys' network. I am very concerned about the insider network that is operating at the moment. How can we be sure the regulation will be strong enough if we are guaranteeing this amount of money from taxpayers, many of whom are losing their jobs as we speak?

When will we have a debate in the Seanad? A motion will be taken in the Dáil today. We should discuss the current crisis in this House today so that the views of Senators can be reflected. I want it discussed today. I want the Leader to advise whether we will have a detailed discussion on the banks' recapitalisation in this House. I want to know about regulation. Fine Gael does not agree with the Government's approach. If we are guaranteeing this amount of taxpayers' money - the same amount that was moved between banks - how can we guarantee some safety net for the taxpayer? I am not convinced the regulation is adequate at this stage and we must have a debate to tease out the detail in the House today.