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

Cyprus deals in the euro. Last June, there was a seismic shift, as this Government called it, in terms of separating sovereign debt and banking debt. Cypriot banks need billions of euro. This is why the bailout is necessary. It has been agreed that the ESM will be the vehicle to bail out eurozone banks. We are hopeful about getting some of our money back because the ESM did not exist when we bailed out our banks.

Is the Government's argument not undermined if, in respect of a small eurozone nation, it signs up to an agreement under which the ESM will not bail out European banks, last June's seismic shift will be forgotten and the small nation must do it all by itself? The Eurogroup will provide Cyprus with a loan of a maximum amount, but the rest must come from increases in taxation-----

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