Kelly to hold emergency meeting with EU Commissioner on Anglo - madness must be stopped
Issued : Sunday 5 September, 2010
Statement by Alan Kelly TD
Minister of State, Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport with responsibility for Public & Commuter Transport
Speaking ahead of a face-to-face meeting with the EU Commissioner responsible for the approval of the future of Anglo Irish Bank, Labour MEP for Ireland South, Alan Kelly will be urging for the EU to bring a halt to Ireland's madness.
"It is high time someone grabbed whole of the entire Anglo Irish mess and simply shouted - 'Stop' "
"That person may be European Commission Vice-President, Joaquin Almunia, whom I am meeting face to face on Tuesday,"
"The future of Anglo now lies in how his office assesses the bank's plans under EU competition law,"
"To date the Commission has heard the views of Anglo Irish and the Minister for Finance - I intend to represent the views of the ordinary people of Ireland, the people whose taxes are being used to bailout Anglo, yet who cannot access credit to pay their bills or keep their small businesses above water"
"I note that the Minister for Finance has also arranged a meeting with Commissioner Almunia for Monday. I wonder what this weeks cost of bailing out Anglo will be ?
"Will Minister Lenihan inform the Commissioner that the figure is €28billion or €35billion? And is he still bailing Anglo out or is he proposing a good bank/bad bank or a wind down? Or is he doing both and telling the Commission to decide?
"I have a feeling that the Minister will propose whatever he is likely to get away with. That is why I will be telling Commissioner Almunia on Tuesday that he cannot trust the information from Anglo and the Irish government.
"I have no doubt they are presenting information that defends their actions to date,"
"They have continually misled the people of Ireland in relation to Anglo and appear to be making up policy and figures as they go along,"
"I will be urging the Commissioner to bring closure to the matter, so that Ireland can move on and certainty is brought to the matter,"
"Ireland needs to be saved from that bank - it has gotten that bad,"
"The Anglo fiasco is a burden that is weighing us down and weighing families down. People are angry because they are punished financially for the mistakes of a few and despite the pain to date - the bill keeps going up and up and up and up,"
"I think the Commissioner needs to heed this,"
"At this point in time, neither Brian Cowen or Brian Lenihan know when the mass bail-out for recklessness it will end,"
"Let's hope the Commission will put a stop to it,"
"I will be asking the Commission if they have seen a cost-benefit analysis of the bail-out funds to date, or if they have been furnished with a final-cost figure from the Irish government?"
"I will also be making perfectly clear how fed up to the teeth Irish people are with this zombie bank,"
"With everyone stretched to the last, people cannot understand why they will be penalised for failing to pay their mortgage, but the banks will be saved no matter what the cost,"
"Regardless of what happens, the bank is effectively dead. We need to come clean about that. It is not performing and never likely to in future,"
"The government's plan seems to be based on holding on to the 'good' part of the bank,"
"But the 'good bank' will only re-emerge if there is another property bubble,"
"We have to pursue all the options and I will be urging the Commission to take a cold, objective and wider view of the Anglo issue,"
"An orderly closure is now a must where the bulk of the work is carried out over five to six years,"
"And the overall plan needs to be communicated to the wider public,"
