Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It builds in to the directive the manner in which the ESM can be accessed. One must think of the European Union. There are 18 countries in the eurozone. The countries that are not in it have banking systems that lend and borrow in the eurozone and right across the European Union. There are banks that work only in their own sovereign area, banks that work in the eurozone and banks that work in the eurozone and the countries outside it. A common set of rules is needed for the 27 member states and it has to work across all of them. Given that some are not using the currency, they have their own mechanisms for resolving bank issues. They had large resolution funds, for example, in Sweden. We had to vote on the issue of flexibility to allow for countries such as Sweden and the United Kingdom to ensure a harmonised system for the 27 member states and also an element of flexibility that would apply to all but where the original demand came from those that were out rather than in.