Ivana Bacik (Independent)

As Senator Coghlan said, that was always the intention. Senator Darragh O'Brien also raised the question of mortgage arrears. Yesterday, we had a good debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, who referred to the personal insolvency Bill. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality of which I am a member, has held hearings on the Bill and produced a report. Critical issues will be addressed in that Bill which we all eagerly await as part of the solution to deal with the very serious issue of mortgage arrears. Senator Darragh O'Brien spoke about circulating a motion to group leaders and he is entitled to do so. Senator O'Brien also raised the Greek situation and he sought clarification on the Government's position on Greece. I will respond on behalf of the Government which recognises the political situation in Greece is very serious and it is a stark reminder to us all of the importance of political stability. Many of those who are now opposing the stability treaty argued at one point that this State should follow the example of Greece and we must now recognise that such a course of action would be disastrous for Ireland and disastrous for any recovery. The Irish Government is supporting the strong statement overnight by Jean-Claude Juncker, the chair of the eurogroup, who spoke of the unshakeable desire to keep Greece within the eurozone. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, participated in the meeting yesterday of the eurogroup which spoke of looking forward to the swift formation of a new Greek Government to take ownership of the bailout programme and which would have a sufficient parliamentary majority to fully implement the policy.