Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We never applied for a precautionary credit line; nor did I ask for one in my discussions. However, I gathered an amount of useful information as I talked to different people. There is a misunderstanding in Ireland, even at the highest levels of economic thinking, about OMT. I had a long conversation with Mario Draghi and his two deputy presidents in Frankfurt. OMT is not a policy for intervening in individual countries that are in difficulty. If Ireland had a problem, OMT would not be the solution. If there is a systemic difficulty with the euro affecting several countries across the eurozone, OMT is an option. While being part of a programme is one of the conditions necessary to avail of OMT, it does not automatically make a country eligible for OMT.

OMT has never been applied. According to Mr. Draghi, OMT is for a systemic crisis in the euro and will apply across the eurozone. If we got into that position it would apply to Ireland as to any other country. For any country that would avail of it there would be conditions, so there would be some form of programme. We have not ruled ourselves out or in, or changed our position at all. There is a serious misunderstanding in Ireland about how OMT operates.

See this speech in context