Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

): I thank Senators who contributed to this debate. I will try to be reasonably brief in reply. Not for the first time I was a bit taken aback by the extreme pessimism expressed by the Fine Gael finance spokesman. He said there was not a hope in hell of getting out of this in the foreseeable future, regardless of what happens. I do not accept that bleak perspective and also very much doubt if the Senator's party accepts it. I presume Fine Gael believes that if it was in government, it would have some hope of getting out of the situation. Developments in Bank of Ireland show an ability to bounce back. My personal belief is that the bounce-back, when it occurs, will be quicker and stronger than anyone credits. Without going into detail at this stage, the Government believes the State secured a good deal in its arrangements with Bank of Ireland.

Senator O'Toole always makes a most interesting contribution. He and several other Senators referred to the problem of banks not lending. The Minister for Finance, in his statement on 30 March, directed Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland to make available a minimum of €3 billion in each of the next two years for new or increased credit facilities, including working capital targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises in the real economy.

I was asked where I was when much of the irresponsible lending took place. As many are aware, I was in this House.

I was also asked a question about Allied Irish Banks. As I noted, the bank must submit a lending plan by mid-May. A few years ago all of us had experience of banks pushing loans, credit cards, etc. at us and suggesting we borrow this or that. An issue not often raised in public debate, one on which there is no disagreement across the House, is that the media, in their various supplements, also engaged in a tremendous hype of the property boom and bubble. They show no sign of acknowledging co-responsibility.