Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister intend to raise at ECOFIN the deal for Ireland on bank debt retroactive recapitalisation under the banking union or any other business? We are now approaching the second anniversary of the agreement by Heads of State and Government to separate the sovereign debt from banking debt. To say the least, however, there has been considerable delay in implementing that in practice. In recent days, off-the-record briefings have been given to Tony Connelly of RTE by a senior eurozone official, which dampened down any expectation that Ireland will get a deal through the ESM on retroactive bank recapitalisation. Where does that matter stand now? The Minister keeps saying that he is working on it and is continuing to try to secure a deal. Does the Minister intend to raise it at the ECOFIN meeting? Are active negotiations ongoing concerning this or does the Minister accept it is becoming less likely that a deal will be secured? These briefings are coming from somewhere. Senior people are briefing against Ireland, saying this deal is not going to happen. We deserve to know where it all stands.