Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

The Tánaiste has missed the point. The point about these embarrassing leaks which came from the Bundestag today is that the impression, and maybe the rightful impression, remains that our economic policy and the policy of austerity is dictated, decided and revealed elsewhere. It did not come here first. That is the problem. We need an assurance today that this will not happen again. It is no use getting officials to talk to each other on the telephone.

It will not help the selling of the referendum either if this impression continues to be given by the Bundestag. What will help the selling of the referendum by the Government is if the Taoiseach, who is in a unique position in Brussels today, says this referendum is an advantage to us and let us turn it into a positive. The whole Cabinet was shell-shocked by the fact there was to be a referendum but it can be turned into a positive because it is a wild card in the Taoiseach's pocket when he goes to Europe today.

He should go there and say the Irish people will respond better to a referendum if there are no more leaks from the Bundestag and if the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes come into the equation. I heard the Tánaiste say, I think on "Prime Time" the other night, that the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes were not linked to the referendum.

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