Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach knows, the threat to Cyprus from the Greek deal was raised in this House on a number of occasions, as was the possibility that Cyprus might be forced out of the euro area. I raised these issues on a number of occasions. They did not appear out of nowhere. Having said that, the scale of the incompetence and inaction in the last fortnight was a surprise. Everyone in Europe should take it as a failure that four years into the financial crisis, the ECB can still threaten to close down a country's banking system, in effect, unless that country immediately agrees to its terms. The initial proposal to tax all depositors, regardless of their levels of savings, to recapitalise the banks caused alarm within minutes of being announced. It undermined one of the core principles on which the entire banking system was based. It suggested deposit guarantees would no longer be treated as sacrosanct but would instead be seen as conditional. If the proposal had been proceeded with, it would have undermined the capital base of banks, made their funding more expensive and further damaged the lending without which families and businesses could not prosper. This decision could not possibly have survived. Thankfully, the Cypriot Parliament stopped it before it could do more damage. I would like the Taoiseach to explain how his Government could possibly have agreed to this deal. The Minister of State, Deputy Lucinda Creighton, has acknowledged that the Eurogroup Finance Ministers made a mistake when they agreed to the deal.

See this speech in context