Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Aon focal eile. Tá sé agam, alright. Táim ag lorg ón Rialtas go mbeadh long-term economic value i gceist. B'fhéidir go mbeinn in ann a rá, "Tá shares agam anois. Caithfidh tú an t-airgead a thabhairt dom i gceann fiche bliain."

The danger with the concept of long-term economic value is that it is not predictable. The Sinn Féin amendment is key in this regard given that we are not likely to have time to discuss some of the related amendments we were trying to have discussed at this key point. I have sat through much of the Report Stage debate and noted it was very valuable to have got to the crux of some of the problems. The problem at this juncture concerns the dichotomy between the current market value and the long-term economic value.

We often look to the courts to define our laws. The courts have recently defined the market value or worth of the properties in question. In the recent case involving Liam Carroll, controller of Zoe Developments, the court decided the market value is 25% of the loan value, yet the Government is saying the taxpayer will pay €54 billion for something worth, according to them, €87 billion. There is confusion as to why speculators would have paid over the odds in the first place. This means the taxpayer is paying €32 billion more than the current market value, as set out by the court. Deputy Mulcahy, as a former officer of the courts, might understand that.

The court went into detail when deciding on the Liam Carroll case. All the properties on which he and his group speculated were worth only 25% of the loan value. If one calculates 25% of €87 billion, one will arrive at a figure of just under €22 billion. This means the Government is paying over the odds. It is using taxpayers' money to bail out the speculators and give them something to which they are not entitled. They gambled and lost and this is how it should be. The Government is putting its hand in people's back pockets, taking out money and transferring it to the back pocket of the speculator. This is something like brown-envelope syndrome.

What could we do with the €32 billion by which the Government is willing to make the taxpayer indebted? There are many investments that could be made at the current market value and they would be much more beneficial to the economy than wasting money by bailing out speculators. The State could invest in schools, road and rail projects and other capital projects that would put the unemployed back to work. The State could bail out some of the small to medium enterprises, which have been starved of cash because the banks are screwing them. It could put together a proper job-creation programme over the next 20 years and invest in putting in place broadband of the highest possible standard for every home in the country. This would cost very little by comparison with the cost of bailing out the speculators and banks. The State could even invest in energy security for the next 50 to 100 years. This would involve adopting the quite radical proposal by Spirit of Ireland. It would cost but a fraction of the €32 billion with which the Government is gambling and which is to benefit speculators.

When the Minister is rejecting our amendment, as I believe he will, I urge him to consider the exact consequences of his doing so. If he rejects the amendment, he is signing over €32 billion, which sum he will be paying over the odds.

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