Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said that the three Finance Ministers made a statement on matters that were already agreed at the summit on 29 June. However, it is worth reading the Finance Ministers' statement and the statement from the 29 June summit. Paragraph 6.2 of the Finance Ministers' statement made the key point that the legacy issues would not be dealt with and would be dealt with by the national states. Nothing in the statement agreed on 29 June dealt with the issue of retrospection. The Minister and the Taoiseach might have got a nod and a wink from their German counterparts, Italian counterparts or whoever else on the day. However, they made a major mistake by failing to secure the insertion of the word "legacy" or "retrospective" in the statement. While the Minister says that he continues to strive for the implementation of the 29 June summit outcomes, it does not deal with the issue of legacy or retrospection. It refers to separating banking debt from sovereign debt but it does not state whether this will be retrospective.

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