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Dublin: 15 °C Sunday 19 May, 2013

Rabbitte slams ‘orgy of negativity’ over bank debt deal

Pat Rabbitte siad that he would have preferred if Angela Merkel had not made the remarks she made but insisted that an agreement to deal with Ireland’s bank debt still stands.

Image: Julien Behal/PA Archive/Press Association Images

PAT RABBITTE HAS become the latest government minister to insist that the agreement between EU leaders to address Ireland’s bank debt still stands despite comments by Angela Merkel on Friday.

The German chancellor appeared to rule out retroactively capitalising Ireland’s banks in comments made on Friday when asked specifically about Spain’s bank debt, but Rabbitte today sought to underline that a previous agreement between EU leaders last June still stands.

He criticised the “orgy of negativity” surrounding Merkel’s comments and claimed that there was no change in the position agreed by EU leaders on 29 June which pledged to examine Ireland’s legacy debt that is due to its bailout of the banks.

He told RTÉ’s This Week programme: “If you were read to the orgy of negativity that is around the place today, including from RTÉ, you would get the impression that in some quarters there is absolute glee about the remarks of Angela Merkel.

He continued: “The fact of the matter is there was a formal meeting of the council on Thursday/Friday. The formal position of that was the agreement of the 29 June. There is no change in that.

“It agreed that a legal framework in terms of a single supervisor of the banking system – some 6,000 banks – would be concluded by the end of the year. It explicitly says in the conclusions that the next steps, and I quote, ‘will be done in full respect of the decision of 29 June’.

On Friday, Merkel said that in relation to Spain there would not be “retroactive direct capitalisation” through the eurozone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism.

‘Rather Merkel hadn’t made comments’

Opposition parties claimed this meant that a deal to break the link between Ireland’s sovereign debt and bank debt – which is estimated at some €64 billion – was dead but the government has moved to insist that this is not the case.

Rabbitte continued: “The formal legal position of the council stands until it’s changed and it stands with the agreement of 26 other heads of State including the Chancellor.”

The Minister said that Merkel was speaking to a German audience when she made her comments and added that it should be noted she was doing so ahead of elections both regionally and nationally in Germany next year.

“That’s what national politicians tend to do locally in an election environment,” he said although he later added: ”I would rather that Chancellor Merkel hadn’t made the remarks that she made, but she made them.”

He insisted that progress was made during the two-day European Council summit in Brussels with regard to the setting up of a permanent banking supervisor across the eurozone.

Earlier on Newstalk, Social Protection Minister Joan Burton insisted that Merkel was speaking to the German electorate when she made her comments on Friday.

She said the government had set out to renegotiate Ireland’s bailout deal and said that the statement on 29 June was a “historic” one.

Read: Govt insists agreement to address bank debt stands, FF says it’s in denial

Read: Here’s the exact transcript of Angela Merkel’s comments in Brussels

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Comments (48 Comments)

  • JakkiB 21/10/12 #

    Pat Rabbit, The man that will bring in charge for using the internet……Ohhhh and let Dennis O’Brien do whatever he likes…..

    Reply
    • Martin 21/10/12 #

      What Rabbitte is saying is quite clear, politicians are expected to LIE to the people in order to stay popular. And the media should already know this so whats all the fuss. What a dispicable little cur, Pat Rabbitte left wing politician me ar#$e the man lives in a mansion in killiney. Get these liars out of Leinister house and get some real people in who give a dam about the population.

      Reply
    • What is it with Pat Rabbitte, does he have such an awful life that he just can’t smile every now and then? Jis, if I had his salary, pensions, health, full fridge, petrol in his tank and a few bob in his pocket I’d have everything to smile about.

      My nickname for him is “Mr. Happy”. Eamonn Gilmore is another one.

      Reply
    • Just tuned in, whats this about being charged to use the Internet, I’m already paying to use the Internet, it’s not free.

      Reply
  • Wow! I am shocked, Pat Rabitte got cranky and obnoxious about something very reasonable, oh wait…..

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  • The amount of government spin associated with Merkels comments is to be expected…the government have been caught arse to the wind with all that ‘seismic change’ and ‘game changer’ shite they came up with in June. Now they’re grasping at straws to try, in desperation, to get us to believe this is still a runner. As if it were needed, Merkels and Europe’s attitude to this country goes beyond indifference to downright comtempt.
    FG urgently need to put into practice their ‘not one more cent’ mantra IMMEADIATELY because until Kenny stops using words like ‘hoping’ and ‘urging’ in terms of his dealings with Europe and starts kicking chairs around the room we’ll be seen as nothing other than a fly they can’t swat. Stop all repayments to bondholders immeadiately..it’s not until a crisis looms will Germany, France and the other power brokers act and so we have to start creating a crisis to get their attention. We’re 4 and a half years into this shit storm and we’re still bunched. Ollie Rehn practically promised us personally we’d get some kind of deal and that hasn’t happened. Time for our worthless government to strap on a pair and get back over to Brussels and do what they promised us they’d do or we will truely punish them in the next election. Enough of this torment Mr Kenny….get it fkn sorted!

    Reply
  • The difference between Merkel and the politicians here though is that you can be pretty sure the message she sends out at home, election time or not, is the same one she sends out when she meets the other EU leaders.

    I don’t know much about economics, but I would have thought the best deal would be to have the banks retroactively funded and the state could then effectively be given that money back, not some “let’s throw the Irish a bone and extend their time frame for giving us back our money” nonsense when the bank debt is not ours to repay in the first place.

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  • Is Pat telling us that German politicians will say anything to their public to win votes for themselves? If only they held themselves up to the high morality and principles that Irish politicians do. People in glass houses Pat, people in glass houses

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  • What’s he banging on about? How am I supposed to sleep tonight after hearing Angela Merkel, Rabbitte and Orgy used in the same sentence?
    It sounds like an orgy of Fraudian slippage.

    Reply
  • Angela Merkel is just running rings around the pussy footing of Mr Kenny, she seems to be about 10 steps ahead all the time and has no regard for the Irish and there banking problems.

    Reply
  • More lies from our overpaid political elite

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  • george orwell wrote a book that best sums them up The Road To Wigan Pier….they live in mansions within great big walls and the only time you eve see them is at election time when they drive past in their big cars on their way to private church and they’re embarrassed to be seen waving to you as they seek your vote

    Reply
  • he has some cheek in slamming it…he is a member of the government that has created this situation

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  • think about your own orgy of negativity…ie the way you have ruin this country since you got power you useless shower of p****s

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  • Signing over any exploration licenses lately Pat? Call yourself a lefty … major disappointment. Spew your waffle – few are listening. You and your high ranking Labourites have destroyed that party. It is written!

    Reply
  • I think heard Pat Rabbitte say that national partys running for elections in their own countrys should not be using the european situation to boost their profiles domestically……Well does he not remember the Gilmore crusade prior to our own election last year…..Labours way or Frankfurts …..how a ministerial office can cluod ones judgment

    Reply
  • This “orgy of negativity” is a direct result of goverment ministers “fornacation with half truths, lies and deceit”.

    Reply
  • alan 21/10/12 #

    He looks like he needs an orgy

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  • Pat Rabbitte …. where would I even start??

    Reply
  • I wouldn’t believe the Lords prayer from his or any of his party or the other shower.

    Reply
  • An “orgy of negativity” ???

    I wonder,could it be a result of the vagueness of the answers the government have been giving us on this particular issue,or the lies that both government party’s have spun since day one??? Yet,as always,it’s everybody else fault,typical!!!

    Reply
  • the deal was supposed to be in place by October, 10 days to go!

    why would you help a debtor who’s making all their payments? the only way we’ll get a deal is to stop all repayments.

    Reply
  • I think it is about time Merkel and Kenny just have a joint media conference. Spell it out in front
    of world media. Is the debt deal on or off. By the way we did save the European banking system. The German
    electorate needs to be educated on that too.

    Reply
  • You will note the change of language from now on. They have been told there will be No debt write down but don’t have the balls to come right out and say it as fearing a uprising.

    It will be all about making it more sustainable and that’s only to stop us pulling down the Euro.

    That’s our children’s future screwed.

    Reply
  • Does Enda Kenny earn more than Angela Merkel?

    Reply
  • I think Malcolm Tucker’s omnishambles quote suits the situation better. Who’s Nicola Murray in this case though?

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  • I do not believe you Pat Rabbitte .I do not TRUST you , I do not TRUST this government , they have made fools of us for too long now.

    Reply
  • Here we go again; no-one’s lying, but still the truths is being bent into strange new shapes. Yes, there are two desperate banking debts deals under negotiation. Nothing that Merkel said invalidates this. There will be no negotiation on reduction of the actual debts held by zombie banks that existed before the June 29th agreement. This was confirmed by Merkel and the opposite was never stated in the June 29th agreement or at any point after that. Negotiations about repayment terms of the “zombie” debt are possible, and the debt held by functioning banks may be open to renegotiation, but a change in repayment terms rather than relief on the debt itself is more probable.

    So everyone’s telling part of the truth, but not the whole truth. At least one minister needs to state the whole truth before they can criticise the public for feeling cheated.

    Reply
  • One resolution, Revolution!

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  • So what Mr Rabbitte is saying is that when there is an election all politicians regardless of nationality will tell any lie to there people that they think will get them elected,
    Isn’t that just what happened when we elected Labour and the Irish Conservative party to stop all that money going to the banks
    As he says all politicians are deceitful, self serving, dissemblers and that said it must also include Mr Rabbitte
    Shame

    Reply
  • He looks like he just had an orgy of food – Mary Harney was healthier looking.

    Reply
  • I cannot stand Pat Rabbitte, I think he is full of wind and piss.
    He had led a very comfortable lifestyle out of all of our pockets and doesn’t it show on his overweight frame.

    Reply
  • That’s it Pat Rabbitte, everybody is out of step bar my Johnny. Why cant you lot in Leinster House wake up to the reality of life here in Ireland. Stop the spinning and be truthful. Stop blaming the Media, dont shoot the messanger he’s only carrying the message.

    Reply
  • Damn liar, just like the lot of them

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  • show me the money or shut your yap rabitte

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  • RABBITTE, this fat fool of a traitor should hang his head in shame, he is like a snot on Kenny’s nose harking back to the the days of “yes minister” Dick Spring, why is it that everywhere else in Europe we see politicians who look like politicians, in this country we have thick fat farmers who cannot say two words without an “em” in the middle and who cannot stand straight never mind be upright people. Burton is determined to disassemble the Welfare System which the Yuppies in their big 4 x 4 will applaud, and Kenny is busy having Merkels arm re-implanted up his ass so he can direct the Rabbitte and his other Europuppets on the will of Adolph. God what kind of Country have we come to be living in?

    Reply
  • Simple: no deal, open a new state, pull state support for the old banks. What does it matter? We ain’t going to go back to the markets anytime soon. Enda Chamberlain/Neville Kenny didn’t even get a piece of wave getting of the state jet.

    Reply
  • Rabbitte.
    The Europuppet.
    The Village Idiot.
    Just like the rest of our Spineless Government.
    You are a joke.

    Reply
  • Pat Rabbit a man of the people,

    Reply
    • He reminds me of President Bush during the Iraq II war …
      He brought in a law that forbid the News Stations showing the dead soldiers being brought home, in case it had a negative impact on the population.
      FFg/Labour don’t want us to talk about the real issues affecting real people (and not them)
      Their approach is to try and keep us in the dark and feed us whatever crap they want.

      I have news for you corrupt, inept excuses for leaders …. I AM NOT A MUSHROOM
      I have my opinion and i don’t mind sharing it.
      Without open, honest and frank discussions, nothing in this country will change.
      This government want to charge us for internet usage, for one reason and one reason only … to stop these open discussions about their incompetence.

      Reply
    • well said Cal 1 well said

      Reply
    • A stickie spoofer

      Reply
    • Back in June Enda Kenny stated that a deal had been agreed in principal, and that it would be done and dusted by October. Michael Noonan made a statement a couple of weeks back stating that it might take a little longer to get this agreement set in stone. Then we hear Angela Merkel stating that there’s no deal. We need complete clarification on this soon. It sounds to me that the Goveenment are way out of their depth, and are prepared to say anything if it means staying in power. They haven’t got a hope in hell now of getting past Christmas.

      Reply

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