What are we being asked to guarantee?

Posted on October 01, 2008 at 03:41 PM

Once again the banks' guarantee scheme has dominated proceedings in the Dáil. During Leaders' Questions this morning the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore asked the Government 'what are we being asked to guarantee?

He said: We are being asked as a country to be guarantor for the banks and put up the deeds of the country as security in doing so. During the course of today we will be going through the small print of what that guarantee amounts to and there are a number of things about the small print that are of very serious concern to the Labour Party."

Eamon pressed the Government to answer a number of questions:

• How much are we being asked to guarantee?
• What are the banks going to pay for this?
• What are the conditions for this guarantee?
• Will there be any limits, restrictions, constrains put on the continuing arrangement there is for top executive awards in the banks?

"These are very simple questions, and if those fundamental questions are not answered to our satisfaction Labour cannot support the bill," Eamon concluded.

The full transcript of the debate in the Dáil can be viewed later on the Oireachtas website.

Tagged with Finance