Dr. Donal Donovan:

I do not subscribe to the second part because I think the term "odious debt" has a very particular connotation. It is associated with debt incurred by dictators in certain countries before being used for their personal gain and spirited to Switzerland. I would quite strongly disagree with the use of that term. I do not agree with the characterisation in the first part of the Deputy's question. If one says that an opportunity was missed, one is suggesting the opportunity that existed was obvious and easy to take, but somebody missed taking it. That is how I understand that sentence. That was not what actually happened. In November 2010 - and again in 2011, which has been widely reported too - the Irish authorities tried but they did not succeed. It was not for the want of trying.