Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Everybody in this House shares the view and objective of restructuring and re-engineering the scale of bank debt that was inherited following the incompetence of the previous Administration. It is not as simple as just pressing a button and saying it is over. Ministers and Department of Finance officials have undertaken direct discussions both at the European Council and the European Central Bank. I have been through this before and a great deal of work has been done. I do not want to see a situation where we have to pay out in excess of €3 billion next March, as is the requirement following on the introduction of promissory notes. Deputy Adams is aware of what the Government did this year in respect of the payment which was due in March 2012. I am being serious with Deputy Adams. Some very clear discussions have taken place and are taking place at ECB level with our Minister for Finance and his officials. We have had support for a restructuring of that from many quarters which are not just confined to Europe but beyond. We are pursuing that. As I said in answer to a question yesterday, patience is always an element of negotiations with Europe. We have shown a degree of patience and would like to move these discussions on.

In regard to drafting the budget, I listened to Sinn Féin's proposals which do not want to touch anything. They seem to have a mythical figure of taxes that will run the country and protect everybody's interests and which will be drawn from an extraordinarily small number of people whom Sinn Féin assumes have extreme wealth. These figures just do not add up.

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