Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Neither of the two issues mentioned in Deputy Ross's question are disappearing from the radar. On the question of legacy issues, I made it perfectly clear to President Van Rompuy when I met him last week that the decision to break the link between sovereign and bank debt in this country's case is not about some problem that will arise for Ireland in the future. I said the problem is here now, having been caused by issues of the past. The same thing applies to a number of other countries. It is clear the facility to recapitalise banks directly is intrinsically tied up with the decision to have a banking union capacity brought forward. The Commission has put that on the table and it is now the subject of intense and ongoing discussions and negotiations. As Deputy Ross is aware, it has direct implications in the case of Spain and a number of other countries. Work is proceeding on that.

In the case of the Anglo Irish Bank promissory note, we are trying to unravel a very difficult situation for this country and, as a consequence, for the people of this country. It is not as easy as it might sound or seem. Some progress has been made in regard to the payment that was due in March of this year. As the Minister, Deputy Noonan, said at the meeting in Luxembourg yesterday, the situation is that the next payment date is March 2013 but our clear objective and wish is that this might be concluded before the end of the year. I have answered questions from other Deputies about this. I cannot put an exact timeline on it.

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