Noonan: Irish debt write-off 'would be laughed' out of EU
The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has attacked one of his Fine Gael colleagues for proposing solutions to Ireland's banking problems, which he said were "deranged and crazy".
Mr Noonan said "nobody would take me seriously" if he proposed the solutions advocated by his Fine Gael colleague and former banker, Peter Matthews.
Mr Matthews wants European authorities to write off billions of euro in debt to help Ireland to recover.
But the Finance Minister told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that such a proposal "would be laughed at" by EU officials.
