Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not mind deferring to the Minister of State at all. I do not mind saying I am not infallible. I am only a humble backbencher from south Tipperary. I would not be always right or claim to be. Certainly, I note the charade that went on.

We talk about the European Central Bank. When we had our so-called bailout, which I referred to at the time as a clean-out, the interest rates charged were austere - 2% and 3% higher than what the IMF charged for what it put into the fund, after first insisting that we take vast amounts out of the pension fund to pay back those whom the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, then Deputy Gilmore, stated we should burn. As the proverb goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." The public will be waiting eagerly in the long grass.

Mention was made of expenditure being taken out of the Central Fund for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. That Commission must be redrafted and reshaped to take account of all those elected to this House because that is only fair. One can quote Bunreacht na hÉireann when it suits us and one can misquote it.

See this speech in context