David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At least they are committed to doing that, unlike the Senator's sister parties, which failed in Greece. What the Greek people need is not Brian Cowen or anybody else being sent to Greece to heap more misery on them, but debt restructuring and debt reprofiling. That has to be a centrepiece of this deal, which many people would call a diktat because the Greek Government and the Greek people were not given any choice. What was appalling was statements made today by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, who said the referendum was unnecessary, and not only unnecessary but a grave mistake, because essentially it turned off the tap on the banks. The taps were turned off before the referendum. There was an attempt to have a cash famine in Greece, with the German Government and others deciding to cut off liquidity to the Greek banks to put huge pressure on the Greek people and Government. That is what happened. That was a decision taken by the ECB. It was a political decision taken by the more powerful blocs in Europe to prevent a fair deal for the people of Greece.