Dáil debates

Thursday, 10 December 2009

Financial Resolution No.5: General (Resumed). Debate resumed on the following motion:

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

-----either from reports of the Director of Corporate Enforcement or the fraud squad or anybody else. It is worse when it transpires that in some cases the developers were the bankers themselves. The circle is very complete here. Yet the Taoiseach expects to come back to the Irish taxpayer as a separate entity as if it is not money out of their pockets and say, "Sorry, but we need another €4 billion, €5 billion or €6 billion to bail out Anglo Irish Bank". That is the Achilles heel.

The other leg will be NAMA. I listened last night to the Minister for Finance speaking on RTE television and talking about nationalisation. The reason for setting up NAMA was to prevent nationalisation and now massive transfers of resources of wealth are being transferred to speculators and bond investors in these banks. It may well be that the Government may be faced with having to implement nationalisation. If that is the case, it is a catastrophic failure on the part of the Minister for Finance. In a small number of cases it appears as if the developers themselves are also bankers. I am getting reports every week of the extent of rolled up interest from Anglo Irish Bank that in some cases is up to €300,000 per week. I wonder if the Taoiseach appreciates how a person who is a full-time carer looking after a person with Alzheimer's and who will have €8.60 cut off their weekly payment feels about this. This is where the unfairness is and where this budget does not measure up from top to bottom. Those at the top have walked away scot free, as in the case of Mr. Neary and Mr. Molloy, with pensions of €100,000 or more, untouched, while the people who clean out the Taoiseach's offices - as has been pointed out today - take their 5% cut as the case may be.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.