Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to go back to the question of "odious debt". It is a bit frustrating that we have not even got past this first question. Dr. Donovan said that the term "odious debt" is usually applied to dictators, etc. I would like to refer to the quarterly magazine of the IMF, which talks about "the legal doctrine of odious debt". It suggests that "sovereign debt incurred without the consent of the people and not benefitting the people is odious and should not be transferable to a successor government, especially if creditors are aware of these facts in advance". Does Dr. Donovan believe that Dr. Mody would be familiar with the international concept in law of "odious debt"? Why would he make such a claim? Does Dr. Donovan believe odious debt is not what the IMF's Finance and Developmentmagazine has outlined that it is, but instead belongs to dictators?