Today’s Government statement on the future of Anglo Irish Bank has failed to clarify the Minister’s intentions on this crucial issue for the country. Having spent two years insisting that Anglo must continue in its present form, the Government has finally abandoned their failed policy. Yet, even as they u-turn, the announcement has left a whole series of questions unanswered about the future of Anglo, at a time when the markets urgently require clarity from the Irish Government.

The Minister’s cobbled together statement is unclear and ambiguous and raises more questions than it answers.

It fails to draw a line under Anglo’s mounting losses and does not do enough to dispel the uncertainty hanging over Ireland’s public finances.

The Minister has ‘kicked the can’ until October, when the Central Bank will rule on the level of capital both new entities will require, and how much taxpayers’ money will be required.

This calculated vagueness falls well short of what is required at a time when uncertainty over the scale and cost of Ireland’s banking crisis is undermining the financial security of the state itself.

I am calling on the Minister for Finance to make an immediate statement to bring clarity on a number of issues:

What, if any, liabilities will the ‘funding’ bank have other than deposits?
What, if any, assets will the ‘funding’ bank have if it will have no loans?
Is the state guarantee of the ‘funding’ bank’s deposits open-ended?
What is the business model for the ‘funding’ bank?
Does the ‘funding’ bank have a sunset clause?
Will existing Anglo subordinated bondholders be made to share some of the burden with taxpayers?