Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

Last month, President Obama visited this country and, for once, Ireland was projected throughout the world for reasons other than the banking crisis. That was very welcome. The Bank of Ireland building on College Green means a great deal to Ireland. It could be a symbol of where we intend to go. We must show that we have not yet lost our imagination, our capacity to reason and our ability to innovate. We must show that our artistic soul is still thriving.

In recent days we have heard the governor of the Bank of Ireland and other senior figures in the bank speak about the value of the College Green premises to the bank, but this must be viewed in the context of the abject failure of performance over the past five years. If this was 2005, I could well understand how the bank would have felt it had some room for manoeuvre, but this is 2011 and we, taxpayers, own 36% of the institution and as such, it is something to which we feel we are more entitled than ever. Much like the runner who has been outrun in the race, Bank of Ireland has not come to terms with its new position in the market and the nation. Its stubborn refusal to engage is symbolic of this. In this endeavour I fully support the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, whose idea demonstrates a capacity for seeing the bigger picture, something we now need. If his proposal were to be implemented in full, College Green could become a square that would rival those in New York and London. I imagine it would far supersede any mere bank relocation in terms of cost. I, therefore, ask the Leader to invite the Minister to explain his thinking on the matter which would enable us to have an input as to how we believe it could come to pass.