Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

This day will go down in Irish and economic history as being a dark day for the economy, citizens, the taxpayer and the Government. If we were to repeat for decades all of the mistakes made in the misspending and waste to date of public money that have been discussed in the House on many occasions, including on PPARS, the botched decentralisation plans and the e-voting machines fiasco, we would still come nowhere near the figure the Government has today committed to a defunct bank. That is the context in which we are discussing the issue and how serious it is. The country faces an enormous challenge. We were told originally that the bank bailout would cost €4.5 billion and that it would be the cheapest in the world, yet we have now been told it will cost us €34 billion. The result is that Ireland will have the largest budget deficit in the eurozone. This crisis has cost the country dear and will continue to cost us. It raises many questions. What did the Government know? Why did not it not know the full extent of the banking crisis? What was the Department of Finance doing? There are many questions about why information was not placed in the public arena when it should have been.

The Government's irresponsibility was evident again last night when the bank guarantee extension was introduced before we were given the figures today. It was yet again the wrong way to do business.