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

I would like to comment on a big concern at this stage. My understanding is that if we do not pass this legislation, it cannot take effect in Europe. They need this member state to agree to it. We would be agreeing to something without substantive progress having been made on the issue of retroactive recapitalisation. The wording in the guideline is very similar to the wording in the draft a year previously. Will the officials provide for clarity for the committee in this regard? Is it the case that the application for direct retroactive recapitalisation would not require us to follow the cascade-waterfall model, which would mean that bond holders and depositors would have to take a hit, the State would have to inject up to a certain level and only then would the ESM invest? Is that the proposal? Is it the officials' understanding direct recapitalisation will follow this avenue? I ask them not to reply by saying this is to be decided by the board of governors at a later stage. Surely the Department has some feeling of how this measure will be applied, given that it is potentially one of the most beneficial measures to the State in respect of the quantum of money that would be resecured. Have we been given any understanding - perhaps from the other governors, the ESM or other member states - of how this will be applied? Is the committee to be kept in the dark?