Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Finance when he will introduce a revised bank guarantee scheme for consideration by Dáil Éireann; if he will narrow the scope of the guarantee for periods beyond 30 September 2010; if, in particular, he will remove dated subordinated debt from the scope of the guarantee under any proposed extension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27960/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As I announced in my Supplementary Budget Statement on 7 April 2009, it is the Government's intention to put a State guarantee in place for the future issuance of debt securities with a maximum maturity of up to five years.

The enactment of the Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act at the end of June provides a power to extend the guarantee by order beyond its current expiry date of 29 September 2010. As I mentioned during the debate on this Bill it is my intention to provide in any new Scheme that dated subordinated debt will not be part of any such extension. Work is continuing on the drafting of a Scheme, the introduction of which requires EU State aid approval.

Access to longer-term funding in line with the mainstream approach in the EU and is expected to contribute significantly to supporting the funding needs of the banks and to securing their continued stability. The extended scheme must be approved in accordance with EU State aid rules and discussions are continuing in this regard with the European Commission.