Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

I am not sure which part of the point I made about the Spanish banking crisis was not clear to the Taoiseach but surely it should be very clear that President Obama's criticism of the manner in which European leaders have dealt with the deepening financial crisis in Europe has gained renewed force from the unravelling of the so-called bailout programme for Spain's banks. The country has borrowed money to recapitalise its banks but far from that stabilising the situation, and because the money has been routed through the Spanish sovereign, Spain will now have difficulty in borrowing elsewhere. The markets look at the increased debt burden that has been forced onto the Spanish sovereign and its citizens, conclude that Spain will not be able to repay its debts and therefore do not wish to lend it money, with the result that bond yields go up, just as happened to us.

My point is that President Obama's criticism of the manner in which eurozone leaders are dealing with the crisis has now been further vindicated with the unravelling of the Spanish banking crisis. At what point do the Taoiseach and other European leaders begin to listen to what President Obama is saying, what a range of very mainstream and prominent economists are saying, what growing forces in Europe are beginning to say, namely, that continually bailing out the banks and making citizens of this country, or Spain, responsible for guaranteeing those borrowings and paying for it with austerity is a disastrous failure. That was the other point made by the US President, about contracting demand in the economy and worsening a situation already made bad by states taking on board the gambling debts of private financial institutions. Does the Taoiseach not believe the President Obama's criticism is correct and that we should start to listen to him in a way that, so far, European leaders have not done?

I find it surprising that the Taoiseach would not raise the situation of Iran. It is very serious, with very severe penalties involved and sabre-rattling about possible military assaults on Iran. I do not know if the Taoiseach is aware of this but I understand Iran has begun to denominate oil sales in the Chinese currency. It might be interesting for the Taoiseach to note that when the former Iraqi regime did the same thing it led to invasion by the United States, in the second Gulf war, as such a move could have very significant effects on the US and western economies. I find it surprising, given the seriousness of the situation in Iran and the threats and sabre-rattling surrounding that country, with Israel joining in, of course, and the contrast with how Israel is treated in respect of its nuclear arsenal, that the Taoiseach would not wish to raise those issues and concern himself with them in his conversations with President Obama.

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