Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak in this urgent and important debate on the promissory notes and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation at this critical economic point in our history. The most important thing I want to say is that I do not support a vote to turn the promissory notes into our sovereign debt. That is the crux of this debate and this Dáil can no longer claim that we did not know all the facts. Huge mistakes were made in the past, especially when senior bankers misled this House. We all accept that reality.

Over the past year or so, while talks have continued about the promissory notes, we have seen that the delay in debt restructuring has led to more austerity. We have seen mass unemployment and emigration. Growth expectations for 2013 have fallen from 2.2% to just over 1%. Jobs growth in 2012 was supposed to be 0.8% but instead jobs have contracted by 1.2%. We have seen more large budget cutbacks, which will continue over the next 12 months. Unemployment will remain disastrously high. That is the reality. Mortgage arrears and foreclosures will continue to climb. This will explode soon. Last week in my clinic, a couple who are making efforts to pay back their mortgage at a very difficult time for their family, paying back €400 per month to try to keep their home, said that over the past few days their financial institution had asked them to come up with €1,800 per month. These are the families in the real world who are being hammered. These are the families the Governor of the Central Bank was talking about over the past 48 hours. Legacy burdens must be addressed. In case the Minister of State thinks this is just coming from somebody on the Opposition benches, Ashoka Mody, the IMF mission chief to Ireland, put forward many of the figures in respect of these arguments. This is the economic reality for 2013. We cannot say we did not know all the facts.

Like many of my colleagues I have received letters from constituents. Today I received seven. I will read one that came from an employee of the IBRC:

Dear Deputy McGrath,


I am an employee of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, now in special liquidation.


Last week I was working to deliver the best possible return for the Irish taxpayers by ensuring that all repayments due on the loans borrowed from the Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building Society continued to be paid and that where borrowers were experiencing difficulty with the terms appropriate adjustments were made to ensure that the borrowers could continue to meet their obligations. However, overnight I was made redundant as a result of an Act of the Oireachtas without any prior notice or consultation. Worse still I had to find out about this sudden change in my situation through the media. I was shocked and angry at this treatment and remain so.

That was the reality for those staff members last Wednesday night. It is no longer the case that people did not know the reality. We are all better informed and now is the time to stand up for the citizens of this State and for future generations.

The deal on the promissory note has been described as an historic step, but when one looks at the detail, one can see the new arrangements will mean nothing this year. The Irish people are still responsible for the €64 billion of bank debt, including €28 billion of Anglo Irish Bank debt. Not a cent of the debt burden has been removed. My colleagues have said, with regard to the negotiations, that the bar should have been higher. Like distressed home owners, we have been put on an interest-only loan up to 2038. That interest rate will almost certainly rise. Today it is low because the EU is stuck in the middle of a recession but it will increase rapidly when there is a recovery. After 25 years we will go back to paying off the original €28 billion. Our grandchildren will still be paying off this private gambling debt in 2053. The changes in payment arrangements due to the restructuring also come at a terrible price. The shift from a promissory note to Government bonds means that the Anglo Irish Bank debt has been fastened to our backs. It is now hardly legal to remove it.

Last Saturday I attended the march organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and met many thousands of people. They were particularly critical of the Government's plan for dealing with unemployment and inequality. Current austerity policies are resulting in mass unemployment, emigration, greater inequality, and social stress in our families and communities. That was the basis for the protest. Protesters also put forward a very sensible proposal and I urge the Government to look at ICTU's plan for social and economic renewal because there is potential there to develop a jobs strategy and to try to get us all out of this economic mess.

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