John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I will be brief because I realise others are anxious to speak. I am conscious we have been asked why we criticise those who object to the scheme's extension. We were looking at a different situation two years ago. We did not know whether we would have a viable banking system in the morning. We sat all night and did our duty correctly.

The debate showed a major fracture between the Opposition parties on a fundamental issue. At a later stage, they must explain what they would have done in government. Would they have acted responsibly or broken up on this issue? I raise this matter because the State has been repaid more than €1 billion in fees for the guarantee and institutions that we did not know were viable are now capitalised. For example, Bank of Ireland has raised more than €3 billion in capital today on the stock market.