Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is smoke and mirrors. I do not understand how a group such as the Ballyhea group, together with some Deputies, could meet the Governor of the Central Bank and do something the Government has not done, namely, ask for the money to be written off. I understand the Governor of the Central Bank is part of the ECB framework, but it is extraordinary that the members of a small voluntary group from Ballyhea in County Cork are perhaps the first to go to the ECB and formally asked for the money to be written off. If we do not ask, we do not get. Many of us questioned the negotiating stance of the Government from the word go. We could see that there was very good reason to question it. A softly-softly approach was taken in the hope that if we behaved ourselves in some way, we would be rewarded, but we have not. Governments act in their own best interests. Two powerful governments were at the centre of this issue, namely, France and Germany, which acted in their own interests in the middle of the crisis. The upshot has been that it has destroyed this country's possibility of investing to get people back to work and maintain reasonable public services, many of which are at breaking point. It has most definitely dipped into people's pockets to the point where they are fearful for the future in terms of their ability to maintain even a basic living standard.

I did not support the holding of a referendum and will not be supporting the Bill. The Government must tell us directly the answer to the question I have asked of the Minister of State: is it seeking direct recapitalisation?

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