Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Finance in relation to his stated view that senior bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society should have substantial losses imposed on them, if he discussed this question with US Secretary Treasury Geithner, the European Central bank and the EU; and if he will report on any such discussions. [18996/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate the Government's position on the bondholders of Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building Society, INBS. As indicated in my statement of 31 March, the position on bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank and the INBS - institutions in different circumstances from the remainder of the banking system - will be considered following the completion of the independent review of the capital requirements of the INBS and Anglo Irish Bank last month. While the Central Bank has concluded that no additional capital is required for these institutions, this does not remove the onus on the Government to consider all options to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of resolving these institutions. I will, therefore, in the autumn raise with the IMF and EU authorities the issue of burden sharing to allow for the imposition of losses on unguaranteed and unsecured senior bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank and the INBS. As I stated at the time of my visit to Washington, I discussed this issue with representatives of the IMF who indicated they fully understood the Government's position and would work with us to seek to resolve it. I did not, however, discuss this matter with the US Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Geithner.

Regarding discussions with the ECB and the EU, there have been no formal consultations on the matter in line with Government policy as I have already outlined. I propose to engage with the EU and IMF authorities in the autumn on these issues.

It is important to reiterate that, in light of the potential broader financial stability and contagion issues that might arise, the Government will not take any unilateral action on this matter. Rather we will continue to work closely with our external partners to explain our perspective and hear their views.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Does the Minister agree that ordinary people and taxpayers will find it beyond belief that he did not discuss this issue with the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Geithner, who, we believe, vetoed the burning of tens of billions of bondholders' bad gambling debts at a G7 meeting and therefore was directly responsible for contributing at any rate to have that burden continued on the shoulders of the Irish people?

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Could the Deputy ask a question?

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Does the Minister agree he was posturing big time in Washington?

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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That is not a question. Will you ask a question, please?

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I beg your pardon, a Chathaoirligh, it is a question.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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It is not.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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It is not up to the Chair to try to censor a Member of the Dáil from getting more information from the Minister for Finance.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Nobody was attempting to censor you. You will ask a question. Time is running out; now please ask the question.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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I would have finished by now.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Well finish it.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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You should not try to distract us from questioning the Minister for Finance.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Do not tell the Chair what the Chair can and cannot do. Now, ask your question.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Was the Minister's bold statement in Washington that he wanted the bondholders burned related to the fact that the following day was a press occasion for the Government on its first 100 days in office? When the Minister found himself in Washington, was he rather like the brave schoolboy smoking behind the shed, bragging against the teacher and talking big, but then when he faced the schoolmasters of Frankfurt and Brussels the big talk stopped? Was it not a most cynical intervention with no substance behind it?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Deputy still has the same charitable view of other people's motives that he has had since he was first elected to this House. My statement in Washington was very carefully thought out and phrased. I know exactly why I made that statement and why I made it on that occasion, and I intend to pursue it in the autumn. I do not know whether I will be able to pursue it successfully, but in light of what was happening in Europe at the time and the imminent negotiations that were about to occur in Greece, I believe on reflection the Deputy will also see it as a very timely statement.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Why did the Minister not discuss the issue of the bondholders with the US Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Geithner?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's bailout agreement as negotiated by the previous Government is with the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank; it is not with the American Government. I intend discussing it with the European Central Bank, which is the body that does not agree to burden sharing with senior bondholders and I already discussed it in Washington with the IMF. I discussed it with the relevant parties and I did not make allegations against the United States Secretary of the Treasury as the Deputy has done in the House without any evidence of which I know.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Could the Minister not have asked him the simple question as to whether he vetoed the writing off of bad gambling debts to bondholders and therefore placed them on the Irish taxpayers' shoulders?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I was seeking the assistance of the American Government on other issues and particularly the assistance of its Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Geithner. I certainly did not go to Washington to start making accusations even if those accusations were framed as a question.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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The Minister could ask the question-----

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It is an accusatory question.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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The Minister, without interruption.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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All the Minister had to do was ask the question and not make an accusation.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Of course it is an accusation, framed as a question.