Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I do not understand the strategy. The Taoiseach has heard me say so previously and I have tried to appreciate what the strategy does, but I can predict what he will say at the Council meeting. He always starts off his remarks by committing the Government entirely to the bailout. Why on Earth would the Council take him seriously when he is telling it that the Government is committed to doing what the Council wants us to do? Every day of the week, we can see the social consequences of this commitment in our constituencies. I ask the Taoiseach to take on board the hard reality learned a long time ago by our mothers and grandmothers that one cannot solve a debt crisis by taking on more debt. It is time the Taoiseach took direct responsibility for negotiating with the EU, IMF and ECB and started defending all of those people who are being impoverished, although I accept that may not be the intention of Government.

As the Taoiseach said prior to entering government, this is a Fianna Fáil plan. While Fine Gael and the Labour Party were before entering Government opposed to it they are now implementing it. This is not the Government's plan: it is implementing Fianna Fáil policy. I say that not to score party political points but simply to make the point. The Government is doing exactly what the previous Government did in terms of this bailout.

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