Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is why I support a strategy that says that if there is no burden sharing or meaningful solidarity with our European colleagues, then and only then should we simply not continue to pay the debt, because we cannot. I accept that such a strategy is not risk-free. It would be less risky to continue to be the chumps of Europe and try to pay all of the money. It would be less risky, at least in the short term.

There has been much catastrophising about what might happen were we to unilaterally say that, on the basis that Europe is not willing to share the burden, we are not going to continue to pay the debt. Last night the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, spoke of the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. He referenced the possibility that current deposits in Irish banks could be wiped out, because that is what happened in Argentina. That is a bit like saying there are mountains in Wicklow and there was a volcanic eruption in Japan so people should be careful.

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