Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

It is fair to say that nobody in this House blames the Government for the situation in which it finds itself today vis-À-vis the bondholders. The Government was elected with a mandate to choose to remedy the situation or to repudiate the last Government's agreement on this. It has decided to do neither. It has decided to go down exactly the same road that was adopted by the last Government. I would like the Taoiseach to put himself into the minds of some of those traders who bought these bonds since he came into Government earlier this year. They made a judgment. When they looked at the market, they had to decide whether the Government would sting or burn them, or would give them a bonanza. Let me remind the House that earlier this year some people were picking up these bonds at a price below 60 cents in the case of larger volumes. They decided to buy because they believed the Government would sting taxpayers as opposed to buyers of bonds. The individuals or dealers in question have made a profit of nearly 70% on the back of the Irish taxpayer. They got it right because, unfortunately, they measured the Government correctly. The Taoiseach had two opportunities to act and I ask the reason he did not take them.

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