Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I have been consistent on these issues from the outset. We have always said there could not be unilateral action by Ireland, and that is what we said before the election. The parties in Government made it clear they would unilaterally burn bondholders - they have reneged on that. The position is now different because at this summit there is a pan-European approach to bank capital and to recapitalising banks across Europe. Given that this is, perhaps, the first and only opportunity we may get to restructure our approach to bank capital in terms of our bank debt, why are we not availing of that opportunity and putting it on the agenda for this summit? President Sarkozy has been arguing for this for the last number of months. He wants the EFSF to take up the recapitalisation of French banks, not the French Government, because he does not want his country's credit rating to be affected.

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