Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When one reads the June summit statement, it seems that the possible investment by the ESM in the pillar banks is some distance away. Not only does the supervisory system need to be up and running, its effectiveness needs to have been tested. That is re-affirmed in the statement by the finance Ministers. I am not sure how much progress the Minister will make on that issue in the short term.

The Minister referred to the promissory note issue. There was talk for a long time about technical paper and talks with the troika. Are we moving to a position where there is an agreed paper between the Government and the troika? Clearly, there are sticking points, which is why it is not progressing as quickly as the Minister would have liked. Are we down to net issues at this stage? Are we getting close to a finality? Is the broad structure of the new arrangement agreed? My question on the promissory notes essentially relates to how much progress has been made.

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