Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The issue is that something will need to be done in the short term with Spain, which has a matter of weeks at most before certainty must be brought to the recapitalisation of its banks. The problem for Ireland is the absence of clarity as to the negotiating strategy of the Irish Government. We simply do not know what the Government is seeking. Is the Government simply looking at tinkering around the edges of the promissory note or is it looking at securing a write-down or writing off of some of the bank related debt? Those of us in this House and the Irish people deserve to have clarity on the core Government objective in terms of the Irish bank debt. Certainly, if Spain is successful in securing approval for the ESM to directly recapitalise its banks, something in which I wish it well and which I hope it achieves, there is a compelling case for that to be applied to Ireland in order that equity would be applied across the European Union whereby what is given to one eurozone member is also given to another.

Perhaps the Minister of State could give Members a sense of the Government's objective because, during the referendum campaign, we were told it had nothing to do with bank debt and, immediately following the passing of the referendum, we were told the great result strengthened Ireland's case to get a better deal on the bank debt. What are we looking for? Are we looking for longer terms and cheaper interest rates or are we looking for a write-down in the amount owing?

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