Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 150: To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of nationalising Anglo Irish bank to date in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5097/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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To date in 2010, no funds have been provided to Anglo Irish Bank.

As the Deputy will be aware, €4 billion in capital was provided to Anglo in 2009, to protect the economy from the wider losses that would have occurred in the event of a failure of the bank, to protect the deposit base of the bank, and to prevent the bank becoming a systemic threat to the financial system.

As I stated in my Second Stage speech on the NAMA Bill on 16 September last, it is likely that some institutions will require additional capital in order to absorb the losses arising from the transfer of their impaired assets to NAMA and in order to maintain appropriate levels of capital. I also made clear in the speech to the extent that sufficient capital cannot be raised independently or generated internally that the Government remains committed to providing such institutions with an appropriate level of capital to continue to meet their requirements in a manner consistent with EU State aid rules and the credit needs of the Irish economy.

Based on the information provided by me in mid-September to this House, the scale of Anglo's NAMA-eligible loans are such that they will give rise to a further capital requirement for the State. However, the specific requirement for capital for the bank will only become evident following further progress in the implementation of the NAMA and finalisation of the bank's end-year accounts.

I am currently assessing the scale of any further capital support for Anglo Irish bank in the light of the emerging end year financial position of the bank, and the likely impact of the NAMA transfers.