Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

From the very start, the Taoiseach's position in respect of bank debt has been astonishing. The Taoiseach never sought a write-down despite his pre-election commitments. The Government has paid unguaranteed, unsecured bondholders in full despite stating that not one red cent would be passing hands. Next week another €1 billion will go to unguaranteed bondholders in Allied Irish Banks. The Taoiseach's approach has been all smoke and mirrors, like the so-called promissory note deal of last March. Now, at the end of 18 months of bluff, bluster and hyperbole, it seems we are back at square one.

When the agreement was reached at the European Council summit meeting in June, the Taoiseach described it as a seismic shift. His colleague, the Tánaiste, said it was a game changer. The Taoiseach told the Dáil and the people that this deal, through the mechanism of the ESM, would lift the burden of bank debt from the Irish taxpayer. He also told us that the deal was retrospective. At that time, Sinn Féin said that was not what the Council communiqué stated. In fact, despite what the Taoiseach has said this morning, were he to go back and read the communiqué he would see it is full of equivocation and conditionality. The Taoiseach oversold the position last June. Then we had last night's statement from the finance Ministers. These are not just any finance Ministers; they are the finance Ministers of the AAA-rated countries Germany, Holland and Finland.

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