Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I listened to the Minister's benign interpretation of what Commissioner Rehn said in his summary but it seems that he was a good deal more specific. He said in the coming weeks he was examining Ireland's specific position and that further retrenchment could be possible this year. If that is what he is considering and he has not notified that to the Department of Finance or the Minister it is a little bit high-handed of the Commission because to be respected it has ensure people such as the Minister have an reasonable understanding of what is coming down the track towards us.

Notwithstanding that, I would like to get a fuller response from the Minister to the question of promissory notes and how they will be handled. I understand that the Government did not expect the money given to Anglo Irish Bank in 2009 to be included in the deficit. It was included and that pushed our deficit to the highest rate in Europe. A similar treatment of promissory notes, which we presume would be €1 billion per year for ten years, would suggest that will add to the deficit. On a fairly straight line interpretation of what the Minister has committed to with the Commission, it would suggest that each year we have to find €1 billion more in cuts than had been anticipated. We need a fairly clear understanding of what it is that the European Union has agreed to in respect of the handling of that.

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