Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I think there is a risk. These facts are put on the table in the politest possible way in the course of the discussion, and we did not make headway on it, but there was never any statement that the bank would not continue to support us, and it has been very helpful to us elsewhere. It is also my judgment that the best way to succeed is to continue to negotiate the programme. We did it in May and July and we have set up a position of negotiation to reduce the debt burden, which will be ongoing into next year. To do that successfully, we need the goodwill of the European authorities, and we have it. It is not that those concerned are giving us pats on the head; they actually think we are doing a good job. They are prepared to work with us and they have told us they will continue to work with us.

I agree with Deputy Wallace that the situation is evolving rapidly in Europe, but we have not withdrawn from the renegotiation. Our primary commitment at election time was that we would renegotiate the programme, and we are renegotiating it in phases. We did the May phase and the July phase on interest rates and we are now trying to position ourselves for a phase in which we will get a reduction on the burden of debt. There are various ways of doing that, and what I have in mind is the objective of taking a tranche of that off the shoulders of the Irish taxpayer, rather than the methodology of getting there. One option is to pursue the promissory note, which we are actively doing. It would be of great benefit if we could re-engineer the financing of the promissory note, and there would be no default or restructuring. However, there are other options, and we are pursuing those also.

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