Oireachtas will vote on bank recapitalization

As called for a month ago on Irish Election the government has announced the creation of a 10 billion euro fund to recapitalize credit institutions with capital from the National Pension Reserve Fund.  Since the NPRF was originally designed to make overseas investments only, its governing legislation will have to be amended*.  In effect therefore, the Dail will get a vote on the recapitalization scheme, even though the ability to recapitalize was already evident in the legislation rushed through to support the guarantee scheme.   The government is probably still secure enough that getting the votes won’t be an issue, but how much more will increasingly nervous independents and backbenchers be willing to take?

*Correction: The amendments are necessary because the NPRF can’t be tapped by the Exchequer before 2025 and can’t have a controlling stake in any company.  The size of the investment envisaged in the banks could reach a controlling stake level.