Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Does the Taoiseach agree that it is surprising that he has gone seven months without a substantive bilateral meeting with a eurozone leader? At the start of April, the Government announced it would be holding a series of these meetings. In April, the Tánaiste announced he would be undertaking a series of bilateral meetings with his foreign ministerial counterparts, and that in turn, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance would engage with Heads of State and other finance ministers. The Tánaiste has had a few such meetings, as has the Minister for Finance, but the Taoiseach has not done so. He told Members he had no intention of either phoning or meeting anyone before the July summit. Given how central the leaders are to this crisis, can he explain why he has taken this approach?

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