Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

The amendments make a straightforward proposal and, like Senator Twomey, I can find no reason the Government should not accept them. They do not propose to prevent the Government from investing in excess of €7 billion in the banks but simply to require it to seek the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas before proceeding with any such measures. They seek to avoid giving the Government an open purpose which it could continually dip into to fund the banks and financial institutions. The proposal is a sensible one which would require the Government to argue a case for any further proposed funding for the banks.

The sum involved in recapitalisation, €7 billion, is substantial. The amendment provides that the Government must seek the approval of both Houses if it proposes to provide funding in excess of this figure. On a previous occasion, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, maintained that such a scenario would not arise as it would send a signal to international markets that the banks were in trouble again. I do not subscribe to that argument. The €7 billion in the National Pensions Reserve Fund is not under the Minister's mattress but invested across the world. Clearly, therefore, it will be necessary to call in some of these investments to invest in the banks. The Minister's argument does not stand up. I ask the Minister of State to accept my amendment No. 3(c).