Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach mentioned hallucinations in referring to other Deputies but it was his own party and the Labour Party that dramatically raised expectations before the last election. It was said that bondholders would be burned and such reckless comments were made during the election; the year and a half since has been a long journey but it is extraordinary for the Taoiseach to use a phrase such as "things are not as easy as they sound". We heard "Labour's way or Frankfurt's way" as a rallying clarion call some time ago. The Taoiseach has since accepted that Europe did not have the right policies at the outset of the crisis and the ECB did not deal with the issue as decisively and effectively as it could have. It imposed debts on Ireland through promissory notes that were unfair. We have a moral basis for renegotiating these as much as anything else.

Mr. Mario Draghi has been a very effective Governor of the European Central Bank and some of his action has had a dramatic impact on the markets. He has a more elastic interpretation of his remit and mandate, which has been positive and had the single greatest impact on market confidence in the eurozone's capacity to emerge from this crisis. We are not there yet. Will the Taoiseach facilitate debate on this in the House? In an earlier phase of this debate there was a famous technical paper going around that involved the Cabinet and representatives of the troika. That seems to have disappeared into the ether. Did that technical paper ever exist and could it be published or at least furnished to Members of the Houses so we can see what scenarios are being worked through with regard to debt sustainability?

There are a number of questions relating to the banking union.

What is our position on it? With regard to the regulating and governing role of the ECB, are we in favour of a union that involves all banks or do we support the German position which wants to limit it to 20 major systemic banks or approximately 200 banks? What is the position of the Taoiseach and the Government on the banking union and the extent of the remit of the ECB in terms of regulating the banks?

Has Ireland prepared a position paper on the treaty changes which have been raised by other leaders? It was floated by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Will we again sit back and wait for new treaty papers to arrive and another treaty proposition will come before the people in the form of a referendum? The big debate in Europe has been on the German position, which wants countries to sort out their own fiscal situation first, then wants the regulatory situation sorted and was very reluctant, as we know, to go along with developing the role of the ECB as a lender of last resort or for buying bonds. The June summit represented a shift in this debate when Prime Ministers Mariano Rajoy and Mario Monti put it to the German Chancellor that something had to give. This issue has dragged on and now it seems we are getting a very slow play out of the June decision with the Germans stating they want the banking union first before they go down the route of separating sovereign debt from banking debt. The issue is dragging on again. This is why I believe the Taoiseach should be on the diplomatic circuit. He should meet other leaders. Will Mr. Rajoy submit to a programme and what is happening on this front? These issues are grave and I believe we have a strong enough moral position to argue for a genuine deal on it and it has the support of everybody in the House.

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