Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

If Dáil Éireann was today allowed the freedom of the Bundestag to set limits to what was to be agreed, there is no doubt whatsoever that a burning of bank bondholders would be passed. Ireland played its part last year by not taking unilateral action against the bondholders. A pan-European approach to bank capital has now been agreed so Ireland has a right to demand the freedom to act. The failure of the Taoiseach to state this clearly suggests we may pick up some crumbs but there will be little else. One of the many dispiriting parts of the half-hour yesterday when the Taoiseach kept refusing to reply to questions about the summit, was the brief mention he made about what was being discussed concerning structural reform in the Union. All he mentioned was fiscal control and nothing about the far more important point of financial control. The flaw at the heart of the euro is not the absence of a single fiscal policy but rather it is the mandate of the ECB and the absence of proper control of the financial system. No doubt there will be a form of words agreed concerning constructive engagement or urgent fiscal controls. If one disregards the nice diplomatic language, what the Taoiseach outlined this morning suggests this is the first time the House has heard that we are on a pathway to a referendum on treaty change. That is the inference I took from the Taoiseach's speech this morning. I got an inkling from the contribution of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, to "The Week in Politics" programme last Sunday night. We are now being conditioned and prepared for that pathway and Van Rompuy has been told to prepare the discussions. That is what is happening. Why can the Government not be more explicit, upfront and honest? The Taoiseach is saying one thing when asked at press conferences and using far more nuanced language to try to obfuscate-----

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