Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not the terms of the debt that are unfair; it is the fact that we had to incur all of it in the first place. As the Taoiseach admitted in Paris, a significant write-down of debt to bondholders would have occurred had it not been for the intervention of the ECB and others. Financing this debt in a slightly different way does not make it any fairer. If the Minister, Deputy Noonan, sneaks into the House next March to again proclaim victory on the promissory notes because he has converted them to standard sovereign debt, people will be ready for him. It will be seen for what it is - a failure to obtain recognition of the unique unfairness of the debt Ireland is being asked to carry.

As I have said before and as I will keep saying, no matter how often the Taoiseach deliberately misquotes me, if the ECB wants to ease the burden of this debt, it is technically easy for it to do so. It can agree a change to the length and terms of the promissory notes. I never said the negotiations would be easy but I find it incredible that the Government appears to have already given up on the core principle four months before the negotiations are due to conclude.

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