This evening, Dáil Éireann will debate a motion asking the Government to lobby the ECB and the European Commission to destroy the promissory note bonds of €28 billion. The Taoiseach does not normally speak on Private Members' business, so I wanted to take this opportunity to gather his thoughts. In February, the €28 billion IOU from the Irish people to Anglo Irish Bank was converted into a €28 billion IOU from the Irish people to the Cental Bank of Ireland. This reduced the borrowing costs, which is to be welcomed, but we should be absolutely clear that the Irish people still owe that €28 billion.

We raised this directly with the troika recently and asked what would happen if the Irish State simply refused to pay the Central Bank of Ireland this money. The troika said it was against the rules of monetary financing, which it is. That is reasonable because in normal circumstances central banks cannot print money and hand it to governments for free. As the Taoiseach well knows, however, these are not normal circumstances. That is because the ECB, at best, facilitated and, in my opinion, coerced both this Government and the previous one into paying tens of billions of euro in public money to the creditors of private banks.

Essentially, this €28 billion is a debt incurred by the Irish people to ensure that private creditors of former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society do not have to incur any losses as a result of their bad investment decisions.

The ECB had no problem changing the rules when it came to protecting the banks. In socialising private sector losses the ECB essentially tore up the rule book on Europe's market-based economy. When it comes to a workable solution to removing those losses from the shoulders of the people, the ECB hides behind that rule book.

A question, please.

The Private Members' motion before the House this evening calls on the Government to lobby the ECB and European Commission for a one-off change, an exemption, to the rules of monetary financing to allow for the Central Bank of Ireland to tear up those bonds.

I have listened during the past three years to the Government's stated position. I still do not know whether it is paying the money because it thinks it is the least bad option available to it or because it believes these are debts properly incurred by the Irish State and due. Does the Taoiseach believe that the Irish people should pay the €28 billion which was loaned to ensure that creditors of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society did not have to incur any losses on their investments?

We always live up to our obligations. Week after week for a long time Members raised in this House the issue of the promissory note and the requirement to pay €3.1 billion per annum for ten years to Anglo Irish Bank. The Government in its negotiations through the Department of Finance and the Central Bank with the European Central Bank arrived at a position whereby this has been moved out to 2038. We do not now hear any comment about the €3.1 billion that was required to be borrowed and paid each year in respect of Anglo Irish Bank. The court handed down its 68-page judgment in this regard today, which is in favour of the State.

Acceptance by the ECB of Ireland's position has improved our position and has allowed for further assistance in respect of the reduction of the interest rates and the extension of the loan term. I am sure the Deputy is aware of the independently verified figures from the Central Statistics Office today which indicate that 58,000 jobs have been created in the past 12 months and that the unemployment rate has decreased to below 13%, which is significant and is a sign of confidence in different sectors of the economy. It is hoped this can be improved upon in 2014.

The Government will be opposing the Private Members' motion this evening. We propose to continue to grow our economy and to provide opportunities and jobs for the people. The Deputy knows as well as I that at the end of the day what the Irish people need are opportunities for employment. The Government will continue to meet its obligations in this regard.

The decision of 29 June last year in respect of the ESM stands. It is a matter that will be negotiated through banking union, supervision, the capital requirements directive and as part of the wider agenda.

For clarity, we have not avoided borrowing €3 billion per annum for the next ten years. What we did was borrow €28 billion this year. It just so happens that we borrowed the €28 billion this year at a lower interest rate than that at which we borrowed the €3 billion in previous years. Hence, the lower cost of funding. Let us be under no illusion, we issued a bond to the Central Bank of Ireland. This means we borrowed the money this year.

There appears to be a conspiracy of silence around the promissory note bonds. I asked the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to identify the bondholders or to take steps to identify them and he refused to do that. I also asked him to present to the House an estimate in respect of the savings for the promissory note bond restructure. His response was that that was too complicated to do. I recently asked him for an amount per bank that was already guaranteed on the night of the bank guarantee under the €100,000 guarantee and was told that information is commercially sensitive. The Irish parliament is not allowed to know how much money was guaranteed on the night of the bank guarantee. With respect, the Taoiseach has completely avoided the question.

Regardless of whether it can be achieved, we are asking that the Government requests an exemption so that the bonds can be destroyed. Before this can be done, it is important Members of Dáil Éireann know whether the Taoiseach believes that the Irish people, regardless of whether they end up paying the money, should have to pay that money to cover the bad investments for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Hear, hear.

Lest the Deputy thinks the previous Government would have done things differently a number of years ago had it had the opportunity to do so, that is not the case. Given the circumstances with which we were faced, the Government, including the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and the Central Bank, put a cogent case to the European Central Bank in respect of the decision made, which was announced in the House some time ago. I am sure the borrowing requirements would have been produced with the accounts when the promissory note was first put forward by the late Brian Lenihan.

Discussion on the Finance Bill is currently under way. The Minister for Finance will be in the House tonight to deal with the Private Members' motion and to respond to any detailed questions which members may have in that regard.