Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That fundamental view of the banking crisis has now changed. There is a change in European policy on banking. That change is expressed in the conclusions of the June summit which clearly stated that bank debt and sovereign debt were to be separated and that Europe would proceed with the establishment of a banking union, which, once the single supervisory mechanism was put in place, would provide for recapitalisation of banks to be done through the ESM. In other words, the problems of the banks in individual countries used to be the taxpayers' problems, whereas now the problems of banks within the eurozone system are essentially a European problem. That is why banking union is being established and why it is a positive.

How does that relate to the imperative to create jobs and growth? We need to have a functioning banking system within Europe in order to underpin economic activity and to ensure that credit is made available to businesses which create jobs and generate economic growth.

The two are very much intertwined.

In respect of the points raised by Deputy Mathews, any of the contributions made here by any Deputy are listened to and taken on board. If I can follow the analogy, we have gone beyond antibiotics. The problem in the European economy and banking system is not one that can be dealt with by prescribing antibiotics.

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