Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach last week told Irish diplomatic staff to go back to their posts internationally and tell everybody the happy news - not - that the Irish people will continue to bail out bankers, speculators and people who gambled and lost. He was not shy about setting out that message - a bad message, as far as I am concerned.

At what point, then, does the Taoiseach engage the British Prime Minister and others, not just on the interest rate but on the issue of debt sustainability and the ESM? As he and I know, Europe clearly envisages debt restructuring, burden sharing and default post 2013. The danger for us, as the Taoiseach well knows, is that by the time 2013 comes around, the damage done, not just to the economy of this State but to its society and people, will be immense.

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