Bondholder bailout - We need to have proper debate

The Taoiseach has said any move by Ireland to renege on our debts would be disastrous for our recovery.

This may well be true but we need a full debate on the issue of the Irish people’s responsibility for paying €715 million to unsecured bondholders of the old Anglo Irish Bank.

Earlier this year, before the general election, Fine Gael was suggesting that this country should burn the bondholders. This caused some people to sell their bonds at what would have been a hefty discount and now those who bought those bonds are making an attractive profit. Those people gambled and won handsomely, and the Irish people have been saddled with paying them.