Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The handling of the euro crisis by EU leaders has been nothing short of disastrous and if current reports are to be believed, this will continue today. The leaders of France and Germany seem to have taken it upon themselves to decide the future of Europe and the European Union. Their approach to tackling the crisis in the eurozone has been dictated by their national political interests and it seems our Government has been reduced to the role of spectator in all of this. As the Taoiseach said earlier in the conclusion to his remarks, his focus will be on securing a comprehensive and credible outcome for Europe and the euro and on securing a deal that protects Irish interests and supports and contributes to our recovery. I believe that represents the Taoiseach's position. It is a pity that Ireland was not put first and that Irish interests and support for Ireland and its recovery were not put first. That is the flaw in the Government's position.

I do not in any way underestimate the extent of the problem facing the banking sector in Europe. Sinn Féin has called for greater stress testing to unmask the true scale of the problems that the banking sector faces. That crisis was not created by citizens of this State, nor by citizens of Greece, Portugal or Italy nor by other citizens living under austerity. It has been created by greed and by unregulated lending by banks. It is these same big European banks who now appear to be obstructing an agreement being reached which would recapitalise European banks, create a stronger EFSF and see a write-down of Greek debt. The European Union has failed to act in the interests of smaller states. Instead, it has acted in the interests of the big bankers and the narrow political interests of the French and German Governments. The European Union is supposed to be a partnership of equals. It is supposed to be a collective of national governments or state governments working in the best interests of citizens. The reality has been very different.

The previous Fianna Fáil-led Governments allowed the banking sector problems to infect the national economy. They put the interests of bankers and speculators above the interests of ordinary citizens. This approach has been dutifully followed by this Government, regardless of the positions articulated by Fine Gael and the Labour Party in Opposition or during the election campaign. It is clearly Frankfurt's way, not Labour's way. Tá an Ghearmáin agus an Fhrainc ag glacadh eireaball an chait agus tá Fine Gael agus Páirtí an Lucht Oibre leis an tír seo agus muintir an Stáit seo a dhíol síos an abhainn.

There has been speculation of a write-down on Greek debt of in the region of 50% to 60%. Sinn Féin is not opposed to this, but we are opposed to the Taoiseach's refusal to make the case for a reduction in banking debt in Ireland. The Government is willing to negotiate the burning of bondholders in Greece, but it persists with the policy of paying in full the unguaranteed and unsecured bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank. It seems beyond logic to want write downs in Greek sovereign debt while Irish taxpayers pay in full for the recklessness of private speculators.

The Taoiseach is on the record as saying that he is opposed to treaty change - until today. On Leaders' Questions today, the Taoiseach changed his position - another U-turn. He must be heading for the Guinness Book of Records with this one. He said today that he had no problem with limited treaty change. Consistency is not the Taoiseach's strong suit on these matters.

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