Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I made a statement in the House on 5 November 2008 in which I noted that many of us had benefited from the special savings account arrangements. I proposed the introduction of a reconstruction bond to the value of at least €10 billion. I repeated this proposal in January and in announcing the budget the Minister for Finance said he had received a number of proposals to establish a medium-term national savings fund as an additional source of funding for capital investment. I welcome this and believe the amount should be approximately €10 billion to be administered by the National Asset Management Agency and the An Post savings schemes. I recommend that everyone contribute to this bond, which is a reconstruction bond, which I proposed in this House early in 2009 and is being supported by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU.