Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Minister agree that the €4 billion bond issue he referred to is equivalent to 10% of the national debt, borrowed just last week at much higher costs because of the banks scheme? He borrowed, in effect, one third of the Government's borrowing requirement for that scheme. He is basically giving the banks a free lunch because he is not charging them a price that reflects the extra cost taxpayers will have to pay for the borrowing. Did the Minister and the Taoiseach not keep saying that this was a type of cost-free scheme? What plans does the Minister have to recover the extra costs that the poor Irish taxpayer will have to pay? Is he not concerned, given the trend, that Ireland is now down with Greece as being the second worst country in Europe in terms of risk, having been the best? Does he believe Ireland will lose its AAA rating in 2009?

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