Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

There have been flip-flops by the Minister for Finance of a much more serious nature in the economic sphere and I will cite three. The first was the bank bonuses where he maintained that his hands were tied and that he could do nothing about them, yet he subsequently passed legislation to deal with that issue. The second was that subordinated bondholders could not be touched, yet legislation was ultimately passed by the Minister to deal with that matter. The most extraordinary one was the EU-IMF bailout in which he treated with contempt, as did the Taoiseach, anyone who suggested the rates of interest were excessive and unsustainable, yet he unashamedly indicated yesterday that he was going to Brussels to renegotiate the rates.