John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

They will criticise the Government for implementing the guarantee when Fianna Fáil saddled the country with the "cheapest bailout" in history, which cost a mere ¤64 billion in linking the sovereign with the banking debt. That bound us tightly to a course of action which we in the Labour Party opposed. We still think it was unhelpful and Senator Barrett has called it a disaster. We are nonetheless stuck with it. If I am to continue with my reptilian metaphor, in addition to crocodilian Fianna Fáil we will no doubt also be exposed to the chameleon Sinn Féin. That party supported the banking vote on that fateful night. It would make me laugh if I was not so close to crying in thinking about what happened to our country on that night.

We have been left with a scheme that was roundly criticised not just by the Labour Party but by our European partners. The Minister of State might indicate if he believes this has made our job even more difficult in every other area. The French and British would remember the scathing attack on Fianna Fáil at the time because it unilaterally moved to implement the guarantee without consulting European partners, demonstrating that when push came to shove, Ireland under Fianna Fáil acted in its narrowest self-interest, without waiting to see the benefit of being a member of a European Union. If we had acted in consultation with partners, we would not be stuck with the damage to our reputation foisted on this country by Senator Byrne's party. To sit here and listen to the Senator criticising us-----