Last June, following the statement issued at the end of the European Council meeting, the Taoiseach and Government colleagues trumpeted the outcome as being a game changer for this country. We were led to believe that the decision to allow for the direct recapitalisation of Spanish banks without placing the burden on the shoulders of the Spanish people had positive benefits for the Irish people and that the agreement would be applied to Ireland retrospectively. It was only to be a matter of by how much our burden would be lifted, not if it would be lifted.
Four months on, the Taoiseach is back in Brussels. He has been there a number of times since. He recently took almost all of his Cabinet colleagues to meet the Commission. Unfortunately, there has been no progress on a comprehensive deal on bank debt for Ireland. The lack of action in the intervening period by the Government has allowed the momentum to be lost. A dangerous vacuum has developed. Unfortunately, it has been filled by the finance Ministers of Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, who have put an entirely different interpretation on the outcome of the June summit than that which was presented by the Government.
Tough talk at home and silence where it matters has left Ireland without a deal as we face into another exceedingly difficult budget. Resolute action is necessary. The Taoiseach needs to be heard in Brussels as well as in Belmullet and in Berlin as well as in Ballyhaunis.
