Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join Deputy Michael McGrath in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Murphy, on his appointment. I hope he has a successful and productive term of office. For my part, I am very pleased to be appointed my party's spokesperson on European affairs. It is a challenging brief, but it is an area that I have always taken a keen interest in, having been a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs almost for its entire duration. I think Deputy Durkan is aware of that fact. I am also a long-standing member of the Institute of International and European Affairs and European Movement Ireland. I am committed to the ideals of the European Union. It has promoted peace, stability, democracy and prosperity for many years and I do not think that should be under-estimated. The European Union is facing a number of crises at this time. In particular, I think of the migration crisis and the possibility of a Brexit and I have no doubt that we will have many debates about those issues in the coming weeks.

The Bill before us is quite technical, but it is great to have legislation finally coming before the Dáil after the many weeks of the general election and Government formation. This evening, we debate the Single Resolution Board (Loan Facility Agreement) Bill 2016. European Finance Ministers have agreed that member states participating in the Single Resolution Mechanism would develop a system by which bridge-financing in the form of national credit lines would be available as a last resort for the Single Resolution Fund in the event of a large resolution before the full size of the fund is reached. Essentially what we are doing here this evening is fulfilling the necessary requirements to advance the banking union agenda. Given the chaos European banks experienced since 2008, I am sure there is broad agreement that banking union is a good thing.

The European Finance Ministers agreed in December that this should ideally be done by 1 January 2016. It is a bit of a cliché but in this case, therefore, I really do hope that this Bill has a speedy passage through both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the Minister of State stressed the urgency of it in his contribution.

As we debate the Bill, we should also reflect on the position of Ireland's banks since the 2008-11 crisis. Ireland was one of the first states to experience potential bank collapse and it would be fair to say we felt very much isolated at the time. As we know, shareholders and junior bondholders experienced losses but, largely at the insistence of the ECB at the time, senior bondholders and uninsured depositors were relatively untouched. It should be remembered that the collapse of the banking sector in Ireland cost the Irish taxpayer €64 billion. Since then, the bank recovery and resolution direction has been agreed and is being implemented. As a result, taxpayers will no longer automatically safeguard senior bonds by big deposits made by large companies. This is a welcome development and is supported, I have no doubt, by the majority of the citizens of this State and the European Union.

Nevertheless, we need clarification from the Minister of State on the position of Ireland at this point in time. It would seem that the EU deal agreed in 2012 has not done anything for Ireland. As stated by Deputy Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil believes strongly that we still need a deal on our bank debt. Our Government should still actively campaign for a retrospective recapitalisation of our banks. The June 2012 euro area summit statement pledges to "examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with the view of further improving the sustainability of the well-performing adjustment programme". It is my understanding that no such examination of Ireland's situation has taken place since then. We, therefore, need a clear and unambiguous statement from the Minister for Finance as to the exact position at this stage in this regard.

As I mentioned earlier, banking union is vital if we are to avoid the mistakes of the past. I welcome the commitment to initiate efforts to foster further cross-border consolidation within the euro area. The aim should be to have large banks that are efficient and function and diversify risks on a cross-border basis within a European Single Market. The Minister of State, when concluding, might update the House on the position of the Irish financial institutions in this context.

It should be stressed that Irish banks are currently well capitalised and in good health. On this occasion, we can really believe this assurance. Therefore, it is very unlikely that this loan facility will ever be called on. I have no doubt that the legislation is in the interests of the citizens of this State, the eurozone area and the entire EU. I also note that the fund will ultimately be financed by a levy on all euro area banks, something with which I think most people would agree. I welcome the Bill. It is in the interests of the citizens of the European Union, and I wish it a speedy passage through both Houses of the Oireachtas.

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