The ECB is obliged and can be trusted to always fulfil its role and deliver on its Treaty mandate, and this is above all to secure price stability in the euro area as a whole, which consists of 17 countries. And there are clear limits to what the central bank is entitled or even able to do. It is impossible for the ECB to provide guarantees or assurances concerning future funding amounts or interest rates over the medium term. Certain tasks should and can in Europe only be dealt with by the Member States, and not by the ECB or the Central Bank of Ireland. Our common objective therefore must be to reduce over time the reliance of Irish banks on central bank funding and in particular on the emergency liquidity assistance. The Irish government has the capacity to further consolidate and implement the necessary reforms, so that there will be no lingering doubts about the sustainability of government debt. I am thus confident that Ireland will continue to fully implement the necessary adjustment and reforms, and that on this basis, Member States will continue to show solidarity towards Ireland. I understand that Minister Noonan has said that champagne corks will be popped on the night the Troika leaves Dublin. As long as Ireland continues to implement fully its programme and preserves its credibility as a State that honours all its obligations, I think that day will come in the not too long future, at the end of this programme in 2013.
I would like to make it very clear that I by no means have the intention to lecture an Irish audience on the best way forward for Ireland as regards the fiscal compact. This is to be decided by the Irish voters in the upcoming referendum at the end of May. From an ECB perspective, a crucial element in overcoming the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is to regain confidence of market participants in the sustainability of public finances. Therefore we believe it to be of utmost importance that all euro area members adopt – and implement – the fiscal compact. For the Irish economy to achieve full fitness it is of course also necessary to heal the wounds that caused so many of today’s problems. Let me therefore turn attention to Ireland’s financial sector. 3. The financial sector and the role of the ECB  The role of the Eurosystem in Ireland over recent years, and more specifically that of the ECB, has often been misunderstood. Sometimes, it has been misrepresented. I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight. Relative to the size of the economy, no other euro area country has received so much support from the Eurosystem. And no other institution has provided more help to Ireland than the ECB. EU/IMF programme finances combined are EUR 67.5 billion in total. Eurosystem liquidity support – to all of Ireland’s eligible banks – has often been more than double that amount.