Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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This is one of the most interesting committee meetings I have attended. The clarity is very helpful and it behoves all members to listen to what has been said. The advent of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was necessary and it is proving itself to be genuinely independent. I commend its members for the work they are doing and it helps us in our task as parliamentarians. I share some of the concerns the council has expressed in recent months, particularly around the bailout exit.

I have researched access to OMT, outright monetary transactions, but it is still somewhat hazy. The European Central Bank guidelines are very clear in that in order to access OMT, a member state must be either in an ESM programme or availing of a credit line. I am concerned that when we exit the bailout without a credit line, we are actually cutting ourselves off from OMT. We are all aware of the impact of the statement by the ECB’s president, Mr. Draghi, in 2012 in stabilising the euro and bringing down bond yields for Ireland and other eurozone countries. I hope we do not need the OMT lifeline but basing important economic decisions on hope has not served us well in the past.