Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

It is possible that the level of acceptance the Government is conveying of it being ad idem with the EU and the troika in respect of budgetary policy may not necessarily be what it appears. Given that it is very much in the news I reassure the Leader and the House that Fianna Fáil remains steadfast in its support for the Government in respect of the referendum. It is with regret that the former deputy leader of our party should dissent on a matter of policy. However, I can also inform the House that much of what Deputy Ó Cuív has been saying about the continuing unsustainability of the bank debt has been raised here consistently. I have no doubt the Leader will agree that these issues will form an important and central part of the debate in order to ensure the people have a full awareness of the issues on which they will vote. I reiterate that the bank debt is unsustainable. This is a unique opportunity for the Government to play hardball with the EU on this issue. This is not a conditional support, neither is it equivocation on our part, we are simply stating a particular fact that there are elements of the bank debt that can be renegotiated, specifically the promissory notes, which are effectively a ball of smoke. It is a sum of money that was created and printed by the Irish Central Bank, underscored by the ECB and the State has to be pay it back to the Central Bank. As Professor Karl Whelan, Professor Brian Lucey and others have pointed out in recent weeks to the House committee, this is effectively little more than a technical exercise. If that €31 billion was to be taken out of the equation it would go a long way towards ensuring we return to prosperity and economic independence.

I ask the Leader what steps the Government is taking to ensure there are no further leaks from the Commission. While the Commission was set up to help and protect small nations, recently it has not shown many examples of same.