Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I asked the Taoiseach the reason he did not raise with the British Prime Minister the issue of the interest rate on the British loan but I do not believe I received a specific answer - nor has anybody else. I asked the question on the basis that if one believes the interest rate under the EU-IMF programme is too high, as the Taoiseach clearly does, surely he would apply the same logic to the bilateral loan with Britain where the interest rates and premiums are similar. The logical application of the Taoiseach's thinking on the EU-IMF programme as it applies to the British bilateral loan would be that it also is too high. Therefore, logically, the Taoiseach should have asked the Prime Minister for a reduction in the interest rate on the same basis we are pursuing a reduction in the interest rate with other Heads of State in the European Union. That would have had the desired impact of forcing the hands of others to move on this specific issue which goes to the heart of the sustainability of the programme all Heads of Government signed up to on 11 March.

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