David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not be called a liar in this House by a member of the Labour Party who made a lot of promises before the previous election. Senator Gilroy needs to pipe down and listen for a second. This is my opportunity on the Order of Business to put a question to the Leader. Senator Gilroy should show some respect to Members of the House.

Will the Leader arrange a debate on this issue? I am quoting what the Minister for Finance said today and yesterday. He said he does not believe that we will get any retrospective funding from the ESM. This is despite what was apparently agreed two years ago when the former leader of the Labour Party - Senator Gilroy's party - as well as Fine Gael and the Taoiseach said at the time that it was a game changer. We had the ability the apply retrospectively to the ESM to take the burden of private banking debt off the shoulders of taxpayers. All I am looking for is a debate on the issue. Several calls have been made by Members from across the House. I think it would be a good debate. We should examine all the options. Nobody is saying that these are easy solutions nor is anyone saying that we can force either Europe or the ECB to do things. However, we need to have a starting point and a strong negotiating position, and we have not had that from the Government from the get-go. It is certainly worthwhile for this House to have a debate on the issue. It seems everyone else in Europe is discussing and debating this issue, with the exception of the Irish who are one of the most indebted countries in Europe. It beggars belief. I am calling for that debate to be arranged as quickly as possible.