John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. The Minister might confirm the position, on foot of the transfer of this €35 billion of debt to the ECB, under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In all the debates that took place or that would take place throughout the country as to whether Ireland should have a renegotiation on the debt or a write-off of the debt, the vast majority of people in Ireland sought a write-off of the debt.

Based on this article of the treaty, will the House be told, once and for all, that there will not now be a write-down on this debt? The people of Ireland have a right to know that now. It is a very simple question based on the article in front of me, which states that the ECB cannot be in a position to write down the debt of any country; in other words, the debt will certainly be passed on to our children and their children.

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