Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I thank Deputy Costello and the Labour Party for sharing time. While in Barry McGuigan mode, I also thank the Minister and his officials for the briefing on this Bill last week, which I found to be useful. In addition, I regret my absence from the Chamber when the Minister for Finance made his contribution. I was caught in the Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment where I was moving amendments to a Bill in my name.

Were this Bill intended to fund essential public services in Greece for its people, I would have no problem with it. Were it aimed at providing a stimulus package to working people in Greece to try to build their way out of the economic mess, again I would have no problem with it because helping neighbours was part of the culture in which I, in common with many other Members, was reared. One always helped one's neighbour in times of need. That is not the purpose of this Bill. It is about bailing out international bondholders who are a very wealthy, elite group of people. To describe this measure as a way of helping neighbours in Greece is to mislead entirely the public and this House. This Bill is about the direct provision of funding to bondholders, the majority of which are German banks. If one opposes a bailout for bankers in Ireland, surely it similarly must be opposed at an international level. These bondholders operate within the market, which I always took to mean taking one's chances. Why is no risk or chance left to bondholders? Why must taxpayers and poor people in such economies pick up the tab when the market goes wrong for these people ? Someone should provide Members with the answers.

As I noted, this primarily affects German banks. I was disappointed with the analysis of this situation by the Labour Party and Fine Gael as Opposition parties and their failure to perceive that it is just as problematic to bail out German bankers and others as it is to bail out Irish bankers. I consider it to be the same. This pertains to the market and, if it fails, that is the job they are in. There should not be an absolute guarantee for those in this wealthy club that ordinary people will carry the can for them at all times. This is completely unacceptable.

The perfect example in this regard took place in this State in the 2010 budget last December when the wrong option was taken. The Government was faced with a number of options in respect of how to build our way out of this recession. It took the wrong option because it opted for fleecing public servants, cutting pensioners' Christmas bonuses and all the rest that went with it instead of going the other way and building a stimulus package. It did so instead of introducing a wealth tax or borrowing some money from the National Pensions Reserve Fund to kick-start the economy. Sinn Féin's pre-budget submission, the Road to Recovery, outlined in a detailed and costed fashion how that option would work, and it is most unfortunate this did not happen.

It is demanded of Greece that its economy be hamstrung by pay cuts and job losses and that it should service a now increased level of debt. Deputy Costello was correct when he made a similar point. Reducing incomes while increasing debt only enhances the risk of default and, hence, yields will continue to rise and the international bondholders again will have a field day. A crucial yet completely ignored point from Standard & Poor's when downgrading Greek and Portuguese debt was that the austerity measures have depressed activity and tax revenues. This is the complete opposite of what people should seek to achieve. One should seek to generate additional incomes and try to ensure people have sufficient funds to stimulate the economy and keep economic activity going. Instead, this Bill proposes the complete opposite and takes a slash and burn approach. While the latter phrase is a cliche, it is correct in this case. It is known that such measures are counter-productive because when budget deficits consequently increase, the rate of interest and so on rises and Government debt becomes more expensive. This is crazy.

The European Commission obviously is seeking to have a veto - I acknowledge it is called consultation at present but will, of course, end up as a veto - in respect of national budgets in the member states, which is completely wrong. Incidentally, Sinn Féin warned during the course of the Lisbon treaty debate that this is exactly what would happen. Moreover, the Lisbon treaty facilitated this taking place. I also seek an explanation from the Government on its exact attitude in respect of going to the European Commission and meeting other finance ministers of the eurozone states in particular to discuss the implications in this regard.

Members will have seen the substantial dip in the value of the euro but it certainly has not collapsed or anything like that. Arguably, a weaker euro constitutes a substantial economic advantage by virtue of the export opportunities it gives both to this State and throughout the eurozone. I acknowledge the European Central Bank has primary responsibility for the euro. It is most unfortunate that when evaluating from an Opposition perspective what is good for the Irish people and economy, Ireland's economy is approached in one way, but when it comes to dealing with Greece and this bailout for international bondholders, a completely different approach is taken. I hope this can be explained in the coming days.

One way to reduce the volume of financial transactions that are taking place as markets take advantage and attack the euro's position is the introduction of a tax on such financial transfers. The Tobin tax, which has been mooted many times, proposes the levying of a marginal percentage of a cost on financial transactions, which would eliminate the benefit to spectators in attacking the euro. I do not understand the reason this is not a central part of debate and discussion throughout the eurozone. I have not heard it being mooted substantially since the onset of this crisis, which is most unfortunate as it is a simple, low-cost and effective measure to prevent speculators from attacking currencies and the euro in particular in the manner that obtains at present.

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