David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

It is still money that we have to borrow in any event.

Some €15 billion of the €18 billion will be used to pay back bondholders. Some of it is to recapitalise the banks but much of it is to pay back the bondholders which the Government committed to paying back. Much of the money involves unguaranteed bonds which will be paid back by the Government. I gave the example of one bondholder who will receive €700 million.

The total amount of distressed mortgages is €12 billion. There does not seem to be any problem in putting together convoluted schemes or setting up structures and policies to deal with the developers. We set up NAMA, which was quite complex, because the Government at the time had to fix a particular problem. There does not seem to be a difficulty in terms of complexity in there areas, but it seems to be a difficulty in helping those with distressed mortgages.

If we continue with the kind of policies initiated by the previous Government the path of austerity which it laid down will result in cuts of €4 billion, €5 billion or €6 billion this year. Whatever the total figure will be it will amount to money being taken from the pockets of many families who are already struggling to pay their mortgages. We will create an even bigger problem.

Of course we have to look at instruments and ways in which we can help those who are currently in distress, for which there is no easy solution. We also have to be conscious that we do not add to the problem and end up in a situation where in a year, two years or three years the figure of 80,000 increases to 100,000 or more. That will happen if we continue to make the mistakes made by the previous Government.