Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Minister will get no comfort here from Sinn Féin. Would the Minister agree that the ECB's role in the lead up to this economic crisis should be examined carefully? It was shovelling cheap finance into the Irish banks without any control, apparent oversight or inspection of what was going on. Would the Minister accept that it has a part to play in sorting this out? Would he accept that we should not be genuflecting before the high altar of the ECB or the Commission because of their failures in this scam?

I am not exonerating the Minister or the role of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in all of this and how they looked the other way when the Central Bank was also looking the other way. The ECB is culpable as well and should be held accountable. It was acting like the bondholders. It was happy to see cheap credit coming in and believe the Fianna Fáil fantasy that the cheap credit could go on forever and keep everybody happy. Meanwhile, back at the ranch who were the real victims? They were Irish people who, to some degree, were suckers in terms of falling for the myth, going for cheap credit and putting themselves in hock to the banks to a dangerous degree. It was grossly unfair that it was allowed to happen.

There were no big cats in this State. The Celtic tiger was a myth for the overwhelming majority of Irish people. There were some fat cats but they were all huddled up in the Galway tent or were the corrupt bankers to which I referred that were bailed out. No ordinary people became fat cats or enjoyed the fruits of the Celtic tiger. That was all a myth as far they were concerned. The upshot of all that is that the IMF has come in. I met people over the weekend and in my constituency office yesterday who thought the IMF coming in was a good thing. They were relieved because they felt it would lift the burden of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party off their backs. Unfortunately, those people do not know how the IMF works. It imposes a slightly narkier version of the Fianna Fáil policy which is cutting and slashing resources to people who can least afford it, including people with disabilities who depend on this State for their survival and special needs children whose special needs assistants are being removed. They are the primary target of the IMF.

I will ask the Minister questions about the terms and conditions of the loan in a moment, because I would like to know them, and what he believes the parameters for this loan bailout should be. Is it a loan or a bailout? It is a bailout in so far as nobody else would give this Government a ha'penny. It is also a loan because every cent of it will have to be repaid long after the Minister has left office and perhaps long after many of us here, including the Minister and myself, have left political life. The children of today will still be paying for this bailout. That is beyond belief.

We have been told to behave responsibly and get a budget through. Sinn Féin want to see a budget passed as soon as possible but we want to see a budget unlike that which the Government proposes. We want to see those who can afford to pay paying their way. We do not want to see those on lower incomes being further impoverished. We believe that is the wrong way to go as it will only depress the economy further. It is the wrong tack and the Government needs to change direction. There is still time to do so. We would like to see a Sinn Féin-type budget being passed by a Government with a fresh mandate. This Government's mandate is gone. We have had this Lanigan's ball-type behaviour where the Taoiseach and the Green Party were stepping in and out yesterday, each vying with each other to get out of here as quickly as possible but then deciding they would hang on for another while. The lunacy of it was beyond belief.

We have been told by commentators and Ministers that we must behave responsibly but what does that mean? I would like the Minister to qualify that. Does it mean closing further acute hospital beds, depleting the HSE budget even further and cutting home help hours further? That is what I am interpreting as behaving responsibly. What I see as behaving responsibly is dealing with a budget which is fair and can do something about this economy and society. When we look at the budget, we should look at its impact on society. However, I do not expect that from this Government.

It is time the Green Party got on its bike and Fianna Fáil got out of here and called the general election the people so urgently want in order that my party can finally have an opportunity to make a constructive input into a real budget which will not damage society and the economy but will do the opposite, that is, strengthen society and build this economy once and for all.

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