Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of times he and the banks met in order to negotiate the bank guarantee; the persons who attended these meetings and in what capacity; the legal advisers who attended the meetings on the banks' behalf; the legal advisers who attended the meetings on the Government's behalf; if the Government engaged external specialist financial or legal advice; if so, if such persons attended the meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12963/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The terms of the guarantee provided to covered institutions are set out in the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008, approved by the European Commission on 13 October, 2008, enacted by the Oireachtas on 17 October, 2008 under Section 6 of the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008. Individual credit institutions became members of the scheme by executing a Guarantee Acceptance Deed in a form specified by me as provided for at paragraph five of the scheme.

The decision to introduce the Guarantee was taken after a prolonged and unfolding period of turmoil in financial markets characterised by deteriorating availability and cost of liquidity, which accelerated rapidly in the late summer and early autumn 2008. Throughout this period, and particularly in the weeks and months preceding the decision to introduce the Guarantee, the Financial Regulator had engaged in intensive liaison and monitoring with Irish credit institutions. I consulted throughout this period with the Financial Regulator and the Governor of the Central Bank and had available to me the advice of my officials, the National Treasury Management Agency and independent legal and financial expertise. These discussions and consultations were ongoing and intensified in the period following the virtual freezing of credit markets in September.

As the Deputy would expect during a period of difficult conditions I and my officials engaged in discussions with a wide range of institutions in the period before and after the Guarantee was introduced. In relation to meetings and those in attendance, I have previously dealt with this matter on a number of occasions in my replies to Parliamentary Questions Numbers 158, 159 and 160 of 28 January, 2009, Question Number 255 of 27 January, 2009, Question Number 170 of 9 December, 2008, and 67 of 6 November, 2008, and in my Second Stage speech to the Dáil on the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Bill.