The Programme for a Partnership Government committed the Government not to sell any more than a 25% stake in any bank before the end of 2018. Unfortunately, the Government broke its own promise and proceeded with the sale of 28.75% of AIB. The investors who bought that stake are clinking glasses and popping champagne corks and toasting the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. They have made a nice handsome profit of €1 billion in the last six months. This is despite the fact that I told the Government at the time that the value of AIB was likely to increase. We had the Government and Fianna Fáil nationalise the debt and then Fine Gael privatising the profits.

Does the Taoiseach regret the fact he has sold the asset for €1 billion less than its value today? Will he commit to not selling any further shares in AIB? Instead, will he direct AIB to do what it should be doing which is to lend into the productive economy? It is very clear that it has not done that because we have had to set up other agencies like the Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, and other funds to lend to banks.

The Deputy is well aware that equity prices and asset prices go up and down. Something is sold for its value on the day that it sold. Our objective in regard to AIB and Bank of Ireland is to recover for the taxpayer all the money that was used to bail out those banks. We have recovered all the money from Bank of Ireland. We intend, in time, to recover all the money from AIB as well. There are essentially two phases to the bank bailout: the bailout of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, from which the taxpayer will recover almost nothing, and a second bailout that occurred under a different Government, a Government of which I was a member, of AIB and Bank of Ireland. We will recover every cent and more.

The Government blew €1 billion.