Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. To set the record straight, the interest rate was achieved by Portugal and then applied to Ireland. When the Government sought an interest rate reduction it did not get one.

The Tánaiste made an extraordinary comment which was that the Government had ended the promissory note payment. Unless I am mistaken, we are going to pay €210 million next year on interest on the promissory note and we still owe €28 billion in promissory note bonds. Just so that everybody understands, the promissory note payment has not changed. It has moved from a promissory note to a bond. We still owe the money and will still pay it all. The Tánaiste is correct in saying that the Government achieved a great success in June 2012 with that statement. I applaud him for it. My question goes to the heart of that statement. Being nice and paying everybody else's bills is not a strategy. That is what has happened on the promissory notes.

See this speech in context