Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not enlighten us at all because he gave no additional information. I appreciate he will not give us the detail and intricacies of discussions at ECB governing council meetings but can he tell the Parliament whether a proposal, agreed by him, was put forward by Governor Honohan, and if so whether it met with resistance? Is the preferred option off the table and are we looking at Plan B? Is the Government looking at a rehash or a different type of option to present to the next governing council of the European Central Bank? Is the Minister satisfied that an option will be prepared in time to be presented to the next board meeting? I understand there will only be four others before the date in question.

How come, after a year and a half of direct discussions with the ECB, it all went so wrong, with the mood music being completely misinterpreted? What does the Minister believe will be the impact on the budget next year? Will we see €1 billion worth of savings next year? Does the Minister agree with the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte? We might take any of those questions about the payment not being made in March. The Minister said it was difficult but I see a Minister for Finance who is standing, willing and able, to pump €3.1 billion of our taxpayers' money into Anglo Irish Bank if he does not achieve the outcome he has set himself with the ECB. That is the wrong stance, as I have stated from day one. Ireland should take a much tougher stance and declare the country is broke. We should look at all the statistics. I referred today to the 100,000 people who have contacted the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the one in four in mortgage distress, the 15% who are unemployed, the 85,000 or 87,000 who emigrate every year. To pick any one of those figures would give a rationale for the Minister for Finance to stand up and state that not only would it be uncomfortable for this State to pay the promissory note but it is not in a position to make a payment on 31 March 2013.

The ECB must understand that. We do not need the type of pussyfooting that has been taking place between the Government and the ECB. Has the technical paper been completed? Does that paper actually exist? I have asked many questions and I would appreciate it if the Minister could reply to at least one or two of them.

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