Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

On the previous point, the emergency liquidity assistance does not pay our public sector bills but remains within the banking sector.

I have two questions which are based on the so-called agreement with the ECB, which Members on this side of the House do not get. What does the Taoiseach think would happen if we decided not to pay short-term speculators $1 billion? Does he believe the ECB would try to pull back the emergency liquidity assistance?

There has been a lot of talk about reputation from both the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Noonan. Who does the Taoiseach think this reputational issue is with? With regard to the markets, we are already at junk status. The Minister, in a speech he gave on 15 December last, laid out the rationale that paying this money would worsen our status in the markets. Clearly, paying this money worsens our reputation. Is it for the sake of foreign corporates that are considering investing here? Colleagues I have spoken to in these foreign corporates cannot understand what we are doing; they have absolutely no idea why we are doing this. It does not seem to be for foreign direct investment reasons. Is it for the international media? Again, those I speak to in the international media cannot understand why we are doing this.

The first question is what the Taoiseach thinks would happen if we do not pay this bond, and the second is with whom our reputation would be damaged were we to stand up and refuse to pay, as Deputy Noonan put very well in his speech on 15 December last.

See this speech in context