Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I know the Senator is not. However, he asked for a debate on the issue. I am informing him of this point of view which is other than that of the former German Minister and the MEPs the Senator mentioned. I would not be in favour of it. Argentina is not able to access money on world markets and is dependent on others; President Chávez of Venezuela may have extended it a conditional loan. It is not the way forward for us. It remains the case, obviously, as the House will be aware, that senior bondholders are on the same legal basis as depositors. If there was to be a eurozone-wide new approach to senior debt then, of course, that is something that could be debated, but at this moment I would be fundamentally opposed to us being the guinea pig to see how it might work out for others. Just because the Financial Times or has beens in the political or financial world advocate it does not mean it is necessarily the correct position.

The Minister has gone through the legislation before us section by section. Clearly, there are issues with it. Clearly, there are issues with the time being allocated to debate it. That was an issue in the other House. There are many hours since it was first published and there has been ample time for people to go into the various sections.