Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The European Council indicated in June that where capital shortages were identified across the European banking system, they should, in the first instance, be covered, in line with established processes, by the banks themselves through private funding or profit retention within a given period. As we exit the bailout programme, we are going to align ourselves fully with the norm in Europe. We see exiting the bailout programme not as a big dramatic event but as a normalisation process whereby we are back again as a fully fledged, independent member of the Eurogroup and the eurozone. We will follow the advice coming from the Commission in this instance, with reference to what was indicated at its meeting last June.