Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will allow me some discretion to wish the Minister a very happy birthday tomorrow. I hope he gets some time with his family to enjoy the occasion.

I wish to raise the issue of banking union with the Minister and in particular its relevance to Ireland. We had some discussion on this issue at the recent Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform prior to ECOFIN. The objectives that were laid out in June 2012 - the separation of bank debt from sovereign states and the possibility of the ESM directly recapitalising banks once banking union was up and running - seem to becoming remote. I know it was Olli Rehn who made October 2012 the target for the achievement of one of those milestones. It is now May 2013 and by the Minister's own admission, it will be well into next year before we have any prospect of the ESM being in a position to recapitalise banks.

This is relevant to Ireland for two key reasons. They are the legacy issue - the €30 billion or so that went into the pillar banks and Permanent TSB - and the possibility, albeit perhaps remote, that the stress tests on the Irish banks later this year will identify the need for additional capital. When does the Minister expect that Ireland will be in a position to avail of this new structure and when will the structure be in place and ready to begin to implement the June 2012 decision so we can have a proper separation of banking debt from sovereign states?

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