Professor John McHale:

The Deputy has argued that we have not challenged the fiscal stance but we have made arguments for changing the fiscal stance. If it is because on the opposite side from where the Deputy feels the fiscal stance should be, that does not mean we are not challenging it. The Deputy has argued that we are not advocating the policy that is best for working people but we very much try to identify the fiscal policy we think works best for ordinary people. If Ireland were to lose complete access to funding, the austerity would be much worse.