Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----telephoned "Morning Ireland" on the morning in question from Frankfurt. He was over there, as part of his role, representing the country. However, he had another role and a separate commitment to the European Central Bank. On the day following the "Morning Ireland" interview, it was widely perceived that we had entered a bailout and that everything was sorted. We were grateful to the Governor, Professor Honohan, for clarifying matters which had been the subject of huge confusion that week. I accept that there was major confusion and that there were mixed messages coming from political sources. On the following day, the then President of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt saw fit to issue a letter to the then Government threatening that there would be no further ELA money for the banks if the country did not enter a bailout. This was notwithstanding the fact that the ECB had just provided more ELA money in the aftermath of Professor Honohan's "Morning Ireland" interview. We want to discover what happened, who was acting on behalf of whom, whether there was a bailout in place and why Ireland was threatened on the Friday after Professor Honohan had indicated that there was a bailout.