Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

That is all right as I shall be as quick as ever. I salute the Taoiseach's valuable work at European level despite difficult times and with the recession persisting. I hope that the Irish Presidency in 2013 will bear further fruit. In his address the Taoiseach stressed two important points, namely, the irreversibility of Europe's currency union and breaking the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, banking practices have been totally suspect. Does the Taoiseach envisage that we will have a banking inquiry? Recent events involving Barclays Bank in Britain do nothing for our confidence in the system which needs further reform and greater transparency. The fiddling and manipulation of the London interbank rate and business related to mortgages, personal lending and commercial lending was horrific. God forbid that anything like that would happen in this country.

Are there contingency plans for our currency should the euro come under further threat? As the Taoiseach said, the difficulty is that the markets do not believe. The Taoiseach believes, as I do that the euro will survive. The 17 member states have such a vested interest that one must always ensure that whatever it takes, the euro survives. If the eurozone were to break up, if Italy and Spain could not afford to fund themselves, if their bond yields did not fall, what would the position be?

We wish the Taoiseach every success.