THE TAOISEACH has disputed claims by the Minister for the Environment that Cabinet agreement on the introduction of the blanket bank guarantee was reached the day before the late-night negotiations in September 2008.
Brian Cowen told the Dáil yesterday that the Cabinet meeting related to preparations for the supplementary budget in October 2008. There was “no detailed discussion about options or anything like that in relation to the meeting”.
The Taoiseach stressed that “no decisions whatever were taken on the Sunday.
John Gormley in an RTÉ radio interview at the weekend said the “broad thrust of what had been agreed had actually been discussed in details on that Sunday”, the day before the late-night negotiations which led to the €440 billion guarantee.
Mr Gormley had said in the interview on the Marian Finucane Show that “you couldn’t just make a decision on the spur of the moment. You would have to have discussed it for days in advance.”
The issue was raised yesterday on Leaders’ Questions by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who said he was “astounded to hear” Mr Gormley’s comments about the way the Government arrived at its conclusion on the guarantee.
Mr Kenny said the Minister for Finance and Government members “made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that this all erupted on the Monday night” and that was what everybody “was expected to believe”.
“Minister Gormley has given a very different version of this.”
Mr Gormley “made it clear that this matter was discussed in some detail on the Sunday before the Monday meeting where you and the Minister for Finance made your decision,” Mr Kenny said.
“What is the truth of the matter?” he asked. “Was it discussed and decided and agreed on the Sunday” or “was it all done by the incorporeal meeting on Monday 29th?”
Mr Cowen insisted that the Cabinet meeting “related to preparations for the supplementary budget in early October 2008. It’s important to point out that that’s what the meeting was about.
“There was no detailed discussions about options or anything like that in relation to that meeting.
“It was simply the Minister for Finance updating the Cabinet as to the state of play and as you know on Monday, things deteriorated further to the extent that when business closed there was a need for meetings which took place as has been outlined.”
Mr Kenny said: “Well, either Minister Gormley has been misinterpreted here or he’s not being upfront with all the facts”.
The Fine Gael leader added that the Minister for Finance in January 2009 “said it was a carefully considered decision arrived at by the Government after a consideration of all the factors after a full meeting of Cabinet.
“A full meeting of the Cabinet took place on the Sunday. The incorporeal meeting calling Ministers by telephone was on the Monday night.”
Mr Cowen insisted “no decisions whatever were taken on Sunday. The incorporeal meeting was held on the Monday night-Tuesday morning in order to take a decision.
“It wasn’t made on the spur of the moment. In other words, there was considerable discussion during that night time and early morning as to what the best options were in the circumstances.”
The Taoiseach added: “The issue was on Sunday, the Cabinet meeting related to the budget – at the end of that meeting there was an updating and briefing by the Minister for Finance.
“A very serious deterioration took place on Monday requiring detailed discussions after markets closed and the ultimate decision was taken ultimately by incorporeal [meeting] that morning.”
