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

The Central Bank Governor, Professor Patrick Honohan, has stated clearly that further capital injections will be required for our banks. A report at the weekend said the Government may give up a substantial part of its return from Bank of Ireland to increase its capital base. Whether we get a lower return than expected remains to be determined because of the necessity to make capital provision for Bank of Ireland.

It is the Government's position that the country wants the European Stability Mechanism to take the lead in possible capital increases for the financial sector. Will the Taoiseach outline to the House what preparations have been made for this? The sense is that the resolve to use the ESM as a basis for recapitalising troubled banks in the first instance is getting weaker. At a press conference in June last year, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, referred to how Europe was likely to aid us in retrospective recapitalisation of our banks. A figure of up to €60 billion was used at the press conference without either Minister disagreeing. That was the position in June last year. Of course, we have had the Tánaiste's seismic shift and so on. What has happened to the prospect of retrospective recapitalisation of the banks? Is retrospective recapitalisation dead or alive? Will the Taoiseach comment on the matter?

The Taoiseach answered some questions relating to the October Council. At that meeting there was a significant issue relating to countries or their intelligence networks eavesdropping or spying on other countries. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have stated that they do not believe that the US National Security Agency has eavesdropped on our Government. To a certain extent that misses the point. The revelations state that the bulk of American interceptions in Europe have been carried for them in GCHQ in Britain. The issue for us is not whether the United States has eavesdropped on our Government but whether the United Kingdom has.

We have been involved in highly sensitive negotiations and discussions with the UK Government for well over two decades. Has the Taoiseach asked the UK Government whether any attempt was made to intercept our communications? Will the Taoiseach ask the British Government whether our Government has been the target of such surveillance? It is a straightforward question. Has the Taoiseach asked about it and will he ask about it?

The summits, including the last summit, dealt with the issue of the banking union, which is essential for Ireland and the eurozone. However, I put it to the Taoiseach that what is now on the table is a weak proposal and a significant dilution of what was originally envisaged. I am unsure about the Government's position on the current proposals. Will the Government continue to accept whatever emerges or does Ireland have a position that we are pushing for? Ireland is one of the few countries where we do not have on public record exactly what the Government is supporting at these meetings or in these talks. Will the Taoiseach outline the specific set of objectives that the country has for banking union?

I asked about the last budget and the exiting of the troika. A recent report in the Sunday Business Post quoted extensively from a joint memo of the Government and the troika concerning the different budget messages that would be sold to the Irish public and the European audience. This directly included the fact that different figures in the memo would be used depending on the audience. The figure was €2.5 billion for the Irish audience and €3.1 billion for the European audience. Will the Taoiseach release that memo to us in order that we can all see it and such that is not solely the preserve of a journalist in the Sunday Business Post, who, thankfully, probably got it from one or two Ministers? It would be useful if it could be circulated to the Dáil.

I asked in the Dáil last week during Questions to the Taoiseach if the Taoiseach would circulate a single piece of paper concerning the financial calculations that led to the decision not to take a precautionary credit line. The Taoiseach said he would raise with the Minister, Deputy Howlin, his clear promise on the public airwaves that he would release this document and information. Has the Taoiseach done that? Is he now prepared to release all background documentation that informed the Government's analysis about not taking the precautionary credit line?

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has said that we should have taken the credit line. I recall meeting representatives of the council in a different context in September. They implored us to be responsible and constructive as an opposition and to support the Government's application for a precautionary credit line. I informed the people at that stage that we were supportive of taking a precautionary credit line for the best of reasons. Will the Taoiseach release the background papers? The Taoiseach did not do it for me in respect of the Seanad. He said he would give me background papers on the proposals to abolish the Seanad but he did not do so. Then, there was the famous Celtic spat with former French President Sarkozy but no documentation emerged following that either.

There has been consultation on a wide range of issues, particularly on the exit of the troika. Let us recall that on 6 September last, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, told the Irish Independent and Reuters that Ireland wanted a credit line of €10 billion. Two months later, the Taoiseach said the exact opposite but, as far as I can ascertain, not much happened in between. Publishing the documents on the basis of why the Government took the decision would be helpful to enable us to analyse it.

The Taoiseach covered the proceedings of the summits in his reply. There has been a sudden escalation in concerns about the eurozone economy. However, I do not get a sense that the concern was shared by European leaders at the recent Council meeting, especially in terms of building up confidence and securing vital investments. Can the Taoiseach outline whether at the Council meeting there was a renewed sense of concern about where the eurozone is? The President of the European Central Bank, Mr. Draghi, did not reduce interest rates for nothing. Clearly he is concerned about what is happening at eurozone level. The French economy went into negative territory in the last quarter. Europe keeps talking about stability, growth and employment but it is not happening throughout the eurozone, where there has been falling growth, investment and confidence.

I do not believe the Council meetings or the measures Europe has taken have been either large or urgent enough to deal with the situation.

Finally, I have tabled questions on the Taoiseach's meeting with Chancellor Merkel. As the Taoiseach has made significant play of contacting Chancellor Merkel about exiting from the troika programme and so on, for what precisely did he ask her? For what supports did the Taoiseach ask Chancellor Merkel? While the Taoiseach told Members the Chancellor supports what the Government was doing, he did not tell them this was because she also had rejected last September's proposal for a €10 billion contingency credit facility. The Financial Timesis reporting that Ireland did not win Germany's support. I do not know whether it is the case that Germany rejected the position the Taoiseach outlined on 6 September. What was the Chancellor's stance or perspective on post-bailout funding and a precautionary credit line? The European media analysis essentially is that politics dictated the pace both here domestically and at a eurozone level in respect of the credit line. Moreover, it is that it suited a number of key countries, including Germany, that there would not be a precautionary credit line, that Germany sought certain conditions but that Ireland did not want particular conditions and wanted to go on about sovereignty and so on, even though the latter is a much-abused concept these days. Did Chancellor Merkel state to the Taoiseach that were Ireland to seek a precautionary credit line, she would require additional conditions? The Taoiseach should answer this question. That is enough for the present as although there is a range of other issues, there is quite enough there with which to be getting on.

See this speech in context