Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As the Minister for Finance set out clearly in his banking statement last week, his Department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, is working on resolution and reorganisation legislation which will enable the implementation of reorganisation measures specific to Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, which will address the issue of burden sharing. In order to achieve the Government's objective of securing appropriate burden by holders of debt in Anglo and INBS, the legislation will be consistent with the requirement for the legislative measures to be recognised as a reorganisation under the relevant EU directive in other EU member states. While no specific issues have been identified to date, work on the legislation will also consider the requirement for any other legislative measures to support restructuring of Anglo and INBS. When this work is completed, the necessary legislation will be tabled in the House. The precise timeframe for preparing this legislation is currently being examined and I am confident it can be completed reasonably quickly.

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