Cowen vows to write ‘any cheque’ to rescue banks

THE Government has to write whatever cheques are necessary to rescue the banks, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said.

“You write whatever cheques you have to write in the interests of maintaining the financial stability of the state,” he said.

Mr Cowen also insisted most people would be okay even if living standards fell back to 2004 or 2005 levels.