Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I would like to read the following into the record: "A capital injection of €2 billion to the banks would give them a figure of the order of €40 billion borrowing capacity" and in terms of default, "default on the bonds would not do any damage to our international financial reputation". Were one to put such a proposal to anybody in business, anyone with a knowledge of the financial markets, the word "fairytale" would crop up fairly quickly.

On the other hand some of the other people involved on the Opposition benches such as those in the Labour Party simply favour total nationalisation of all our banks. I wonder if the general public is fully au fait with and aware of these opposing views compared with a coalition Government that has uniformity and policies that have been commended by international organisations. Let us pause on that for a moment. We have a group of people in opposition with opposing views, some of which just do not add up; the equation just does not figure. On the other hand we have a group of people in government who have policies that are being implemented and commended. Rather than getting bogged down on differences-----