Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is telling. I would recommend both books.

Do the delegates know that Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, was not aware in May 2011 that the banking liabilities of our six little old banks - amounting to approximately €75 billion - related to the repayment of bond investors, in spite of the fact that there was at least €75 billion in losses, owing to insolvency, in these banks? Mr. Van Rompuy was not aware of it when I spoke to him. He asked whether there was a paper on the matter. I told him that if he had been aware of the minority analysis and facts, he would have known about it. It was a bad starting point that when he was visiting the Taoiseach in May 2011 he was not aware that the odious liabilities to the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Central Bank - amounting to at least €75 billion - had their origin in losses. It equated to nearly 50% of the national income of a country with 4.5 million people. That is the core of the matter. Do the delegates agree that we were strong-armed into being loaded with this bank debt by the financial establishment to which Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett referred?

Let us consider the advisers and those who helped with the issue of Government debt. We know the position on State Street, which has foot-faulted in several respects. It has not had its proudest moment in terms of proper standards and ethics. Does Goldman Sachs still advise the NTMA?