Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Does the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, remember telling the people of this State the following?:

Labour's view is clear. This is a bad deal for Ireland. Because it is a bad deal for Ireland, we will vote against it here and, in the forthcoming election, we will seek a mandate to renegotiate it... Why are European banks being protected from losses in respect of senior bonds, while the Irish taxpayer is carrying the can? Europe made its contribution to the problem and must also make a contribution to the solution. It must do so because until there is a solution to the Irish crisis, there will be no overall solution to the euro crisis.

In support of the motion seeking a referendum on the bailout, I finish by quoting the words of the current Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, who, when in Opposition, said of senior bondholders:

The Irish Government and the taxpayer has no liability whatsoever for these debts, but the bailout deal is now forcing them to accept liability because it puts this imposition on them. In the budget, the Minister for Finance reduced social welfare payments, punished the blind, disabled, widows, carers and the unemployed and he taxed the poorest at work, and for what? It was so that the taxpayer can take on liability for debts the country never incurred and arose from private arrangements between private institutions. What a disaster and an obscenity. How can the Government stand over it? How can our European colleagues stand over it?

With those words, the Minister for Finance put more succinctly than anyone else the case for a referendum on this deal.

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