President of the Government stressed that Ebola situation "is on right track"

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

In response to a question from the General Secretary of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party], Pedro Sánchez, on how the disease from the Ebola virus is being handled, the President of the Government underlined that "we must continue to persevere and support our professionals and many other people that form part of our public administration services who are working well, and that the situation is on the right track".

Mariano Rajoy also stressed that, according to the medical staff, it is "very difficult" to contract the disease, since this only takes place through contact with fluids of those at an advanced stage of the illness". "To date, only Teresa Romero can pass on this disease, as publicly announced by the Scientific Committee, and we hope that soon no-one will be in a position to pass it on, for the good of the Spanish people", he added.

According to President of the Government, his government has fulfilled the priorities that he announced in the Lower House last Wednesday: the health of Teresa Romero, the supervision of those who have had contact with her and with the missionary Manuel García Viejo, "absolute support" for our healthcare professionals, information to the public and an investigation in to how it was contracted.

Clean up of the financial system

In response to the MP Rosa Díez, of UPyD [Union, Progress and Democracy], who had enquired after the government's actions in relation to the use of 'opaque' credit cards at Caja Madrid, Mariano Rajoy stressed that an investigation has been carried out and the results have been passed on to the Public Prosecutor's Office. "If this hadn't been done, the events would not have come to light that you are asking after". All this information has been passed on to the National High Court and is now in the hands of the judges" he added.

Mariano Rajoy specified that details on a total of 19 transactions have been forwarded to the Public Prosecutor and that in the next few hours "we will pass on another 20 suspicious transactions, not regarding Bankia, but rather regarding other nationalised savings banks". Hence, he said, "actions have been taken with total transparency". Moreover, he recalled that the FROB [Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring], which is working on the case of Bankia, will request the repayment of all the amounts when it can be proved that have been charged unduly.

Pool MoncloaIn response to the MP Cayo Lara, from the Plural Left party, who asked after the creation of a commission to investigate the savings banks, Mariano Rajoy pointed out that there is no "lack of action or parliamentary information on this matter"

He underlined that "it has been the government that has made all these actions available to the system of justice", and recalled that when his government came to power, part of the Spanish financial system was already bankrupt. We can now say that the system has been "cleaned up". During this process, the government "has brought to light the unlawful conduct that is unacceptable and it has done this through the FROB", he stated.

Mariano Rajoy commented that two parliamentary sub-committees have been set up, one to inform on the bank restructuring and the other to guarantee transparency and best practices in the sale of complex financial products. He also highlighted that the Minister for Economic Affairs has appeared on 11 occasions in the Lower House and will do so again in the coming days. Furthermore, the FROB publishes a report on the actions carried out each quarter. Finally, he underlined that, thanks to all the actions that have been carried out, Bankia is now "a renewed brand, with future expectations and is recognised in the financial markets".

Dialogue on Catalonia

On another note, in a statement to journalists in the corridors of the Lower House, Mariano Rajoy referred to the referendum on self-determination in Catalonia. "Now this referendum will not be held; Mr Mas has stated this and yesterday I described this as excellent news and I reiterate this now because it is a victory for democracy and the law".

The President of the Government remarked that no leader "can place himself above the law", and act "in violation of the wishes of the majority of the people". He pointed out that the possibility for dialogue now exists, "which is what should have happened since the very start instead of taking unilateral decisions". If actions are taken in breach of the law, the government will appeal against them, he announced.

"I hope that, after the experience we have gone through in relation to this referendum that will not be held, actions are taken sensibly, with moderation, with balance and with reason, and that proposals are accepted to enter into talks and dialogue but, I repeat, always within the framework of the law. That is the essence of politics and democracy", he concluded.