Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

There were firm commitments made by the Taoiseach and by the Government side to have a genuine jobs stimulus. The Taoiseach was converted to the notion of growth in the course of all of this, although there was not a mention of the word "growth" when he came back with the treaty. The Taoiseach also made a commitment in terms of removing the bank burden.

I wish the Taoiseach well with all of his telephone calls, but he did not tell us what those he telephoned stated to him. He did not even tell us what he stated to them. The problem is - this is the crux of it - the Taoiseach never raised these issues at summits or at meetings with other European leaders. He has told us that on many occasions in the Dáil. In fact, he boasted here that he would never have the word "defaulter" on our foreheads. He has never raised the issue of bank debt. The Taoiseach has now had a road to Frankfurt conversion, but there is a credibility issue in him persuading European leaders, who see the "Yes" vote as an endorsement of their policies. Who could blame them, seeing as the Taoiseach has continuously echoed their policies? The Taoiseach and Chancellor Merkel are on the same page on austerity and all of these other right-wing ideological positions. Leaving aside the Taoiseach's failure to tell us the outcome of his telephone conversations, he should tell us how he will get the burden of this bank debt relieved from taxpayers here and how he will initiate Government-led and EU-led jobs stimulus initiatives. He should forget about all of those to whom he spoke last week. That was grand. As I stated, my party wishes the Taoiseach well. The Taoiseach should tell us how he will do this.

See this speech in context