Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is great. I wish to make one point. I saw Deputy Howlin having to deal with many of these issues in this House from 2011 onwards. The ability of our country to borrow in the way we are able to now is in no small way attributable to the work the Deputy did when he was in my job for a number of years. I want to acknowledge that because I know the consequences he has faced as a result of the decisions he made.

I have looked to build on his work. If he had been told in 2011 that our country would be able to borrow the amount of money we are now borrowing and at the rates on offer, even an optimistic soul like Deputy Howlin would have thought it unlikely. We are doing that now, however. I acknowledge Deputy Howlin's role in this regard.

Taking the Deputy's first question on the adequacy of the proposal, I believe that the proposal of more than €500 billion from the French and German Governments is considerable. I see this issue in the round, however. The European Central Bank has indicated that it is willing to make up to €1 trillion of funding available to debt markets in Europe. The package of measures I hope is going to be agreed fully by European finance Ministers this week - an additional €500 million and the package that France and Germany have indicated they are willing to support - potentially takes the entire framework up to €2 trillion. Some of that consists of loans and some could be grants-----

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