Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To present this, as the Tánaiste did, as an historic day is not an honest opinion. We are not restoring our sovereignty today. We are not regaining our sovereignty. We are being treated to a political theatre by the Government which is a camouflage. One can tell the people today that there will be a change in policy but there will not be one. Austerity will continue. The imposition of other measures will continue. The one thing that was missing from the Taoiseach's speech was any mention of the banks - the important element of our economy. We had no mention of the ESM or paying back legacy debt with ESM funds. We have achieved nothing today that we could not have achieved otherwise.

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