Lenihan To Brief Cabinet On Anglo

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will brief the Cabinet at its meeting this morning on the state of Anglo Irish Bank after calls for a plan.

Mr Lenihan said the Government would consider the views of the European Commission, the Central Bank, the National Treasury Management Agency and others.

The Finance Minister's announcement comes only a day after Labour MEP Alan Kelly complained the EU was still waiting on the Government's submission of a final proposal for the troubled bank.

The Cabinet meeting is being held after a decision by the European Commission to approve the extension to the Government's bank guarantee scheme until the end of the year, which was agreed at a meeting in Brussels yesterday between euro zone Finance Ministers.

The decision is expected to make the refinancing issue for the banks easier.

However, the Labour spokesman, describing the delay as "disgraceful”, said it was "astonishing" that the government have not yet presented a formal proposal.

Speaking after a meeting with Commissioner for Competition, Joaquin Almunia, Mr Kelly said: "Commissioner Almunia recognised the importance of his decision for Ireland but he is powerless to help us until he sees the plan. The government's management of this situation is contributing greatly to the uncertainty we are now facing.

"They spent the last two years talking up a good bank/bad bank, Now it is fairly obvious they are going to follow Labour's position of an orderly wind-down."

Mr Kelly added it was important to maintain close relations with the European Central Bank, even though the taxpayer has been "bled dry by Anglo".

(DW/KMcA)