Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

The Government, on behalf of the taxpayer, is underwriting the present capital-raising measure required to assist Bank of Ireland. I compliment the Minister for Finance on the strict terms and conditions he has laid down for it to meet. As a colleague said, the State has a 36% equity interest in Bank of Ireland as it stands. Given the lack of investor confidence, if this rights issue is not taken up by the investors and by the shareholders, it could rise to 70%. I know the Leader has meant well in offering us a debate on banking and he might again address that in a few minutes. We all know how starved small and medium-sized businesses are in trying to meet the challenges in the marketplace at the moment. Some €3 billion will be made available to them this year, €3.5 billion next year and €4 billion in 2013, on which I compliment the Minister, because it is so necessary. However, so many legacy issues continue in that institution and the other pillar bank that any director who was in place prior to the introduction of the guarantee should not be there now.