Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

The Minister should make a statement on the following matter. There were reports last week that the ECB had urged the Government to take emergency measures and bring forward the budget for 2011. A member of the bank stated:

Markets waited and waited and since they saw no policy reactions they started to lose confidence in the course of the summer. There was a downgrade in August but there was no policy reaction, no announcement that a tough budget was in preparation and no announcement of the measures. The loss of confidence also affected the banking system and this created a spiral which led to the crisis and in the end, a request for financial assistance.

Portugal has been able to avoid the EU-IMF bailout but Ireland did not because the Minister did not act as he was urged to by the ECB.