Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is one year last week since the major game changer, or the seismic shift, as it was called at the time. The Minister presided over five ECOFIN meetings during the Presidency. There is one important line at the end of the five-page statement on potential retroactive application of the instrument. It has to be by mutual agreement and it must be on a case-by-case basis. We know that this procedure will not come into effect for a few years. Does retroactive application date from the time we bailed out our banks in the past, or is it from the agreement today? In other words, if this procedure is not available, the ESM is not up and running. If a bank runs into trouble, then a retroactive application can apply because the principle has not been agreed. When does the date of retroactivity begin? Does it definitely apply to us? Is there an understanding behind this text that retroactive applications include the dates on which this State recapitalised our banks?