Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

He suggested that if this was an exclusive deal with the IMF, that would not be the position but unfortunately the EU sold out on the issue. His view, not for the first time, was entirely misrepresenting the position taken by an international body.

I suggest that Deputy Hayes, in the time between now and Christmas, might pick up a document, "Default in Today's Advanced Economies: Unnecessary, Undesirable and Unlikely", which is an IMF publication. The head of the ECB also agrees very firmly with the assessment of Deputy Hayes. In the European Parliament recently Mr. Trichet said finance Ministers were sticking closely to the precedents set by the IMF in dealing with possible sovereign defaults. He told the Parliament Europe's policies would be fully consistent with IMF policy and practices.

To be fair, the leader of the Labour Party has been one of the first people seeing the difference, unlike Deputy Hayes. When Deputy Joan Burton said she was in favour of burning the bondholders, it was clear that Deputy Richard Bruton was not in favour. Speaking on "Morning Ireland", he said we cannot and should not default and he made the same point today. The reality is that the grinning Member opposite is very good at getting a high profile and making commentary which he knows makes absolutely no sense.

The idea that Mrs. Merkel has or would ever pick up the telephone and have a quiet chat with a member of the Commission and put in a fix is gombeen politics of a high order. Chancellor Merkel and Finance Minister Schaeuble have made a politically populist point that taxpayers cannot be called on to shoulder burdens and made the same point again yesterday that they would not tolerate-----

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