Last week, the Fine Gael Party supported the action taken by Government in defending our economy and maintaining the banking system. Has the Government approved the scheme? The Taoiseach has been briefed by the Central Bank, the Financial Regulator and the institutions named in the guarantee. Arising from the briefings and the information provided, has the Government calculated the property-related bad debt in the institutions involved? Does the Taoiseach know the scale of this? Will he give an assurance that the level of property-related bad debt poses no threat to the solvency of the institutions in question? It is perfectly obvious that significant sums are being moved from other institutions to those named in the guarantee, which is not yet in place because it has not been approved by the Dáil and the Seanad. When will it be introduced in the House?

The scheme has not been approved by Government. It is at an advanced stage with work being done on it by the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator. The preparation of the framework for the scheme to give effect to the guarantee is at an advanced stage. The objective is to enable the terms and conditions of the guarantee to be prepared in accordance with the objectives of the legislation. The Government is anxious to enable this process to proceed and be completed, including the consideration of draft schemes by the House, as soon as possible. I cannot say exactly when these will be finalised. There will be a need for discussion between the authorities and the EU Commission to ensure the scheme meets State aids and competition requirements, which is important. This is an evolving situation.

With regard to question of the provisions in the banks themselves, what we did last week related to the need to provide confidence in the market as we dealt with capital outflows from Irish credit institutions to the extent that we were advised it had reached the stage where the Government needed to act and, on that basis and on that advice, we made the decisions we made. The question of how lending practice proceeds from hereon in relates to the work of the Financial Regulator and the Central Bank in dealing with the overall financial stability of the system. The legislation considered by the House last week provides options in that regard.

Clearly, the issue dealt with last week was the liquidity of the Irish financial system and the need to improve liquidity where global financial markets had dried up to a large extent. The position has not dramatically improved in a global sense and the issue still remains. We are not in any way out of the woods regarding this matter. The banks and credit institutions must continue to do their work in terms of conducting their business and taking account of the new realities.

Obviously, there are a number of problems. My party supports the action taken by the Government, but it is important we know the attached conditions.

The Taoiseach has not responded to my question on whether the extent of bad property debt known to the Government, as outlined by the banks, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator, will impact on the solvency of banks. Will he assure the House that the extent of the debt will not impact on the solvency of any of the institutions? What is the position regarding institutions beyond the named six? While the guarantee is not in place, my understanding is that there is fluid movement to the institutions named in it.

It is not a Central Bank or Financial Regulator scheme. Rather, it is a Government scheme underwritten by the taxpayer to the extent of €400 billion, between €200,000 and €250,000 per worker. In the interests of the taxpayer and the Government, it is important we know to what we are signing up. Banks are daily in a position to indicate the loans they consider to be bad debts. Given the risk associated with bad property debt and loans in a number of institutions, a different guarantee scheme in each case will be required. When the guarantee scheme is before the House for approval, will it reflect the difficulty and range associated with bad property debt in each institution? For bank or financial institution X, a particular kind of scheme may be required while the scheme for another institution, one with a greater risk attached to its property loans and debts, may be more robust, rigid and regulated. Will the Taoiseach clarify the position?

On the drawing up of the framework for the schemes to give effect to the guarantees provided for in the legislation and to answer a previous question that I may not have answered, the Minister for Finance has already made it clear that applications from the subsidiaries of parent bodies incorporated and regulated outside this jurisdiction for inclusion in the guarantee scheme will be considered where the subsidiaries have substantial engagement in the economy on a retail basis, subject to their meeting the terms and conditions of the scheme. No more than in the case of the six named institutions covered by the initial Government announcement, our authorities will need to be satisfied that the necessary terms and conditions are met in each case. Each applying organisation will also need to decide whether it wishes to participate in the guarantee scheme when the full terms of the scheme are considered by it.

We have already made it clear, both domestically and in our communications with other EU member states and EU authorities, that the guarantee scheme is designed to ensure financial stability. It is not intended to provide a basis for predatory activity based on an unfair competitive advantage, which has been made clear to all relevant credit institutions in Ireland and will be reflected in the terms of the scheme.

It is important to point out that the Minister for Finance is reflecting on the issues raised with him in his finalisation of the detailed scheme. As Deputy Kenny stated, the question of what terms and conditions will apply to individual credit institutions will be determined by the criteria set out therein. They will not be exactly the same in every case. The idea is to provide a guarantee scheme that reflects the commercial realities of the situation. The purpose of providing the scheme is to try to ensure we protect the interests of the economy and the taxpayer.