Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

I completely accept that we need money because the consequences of not having the resources necessary to pay bills, wages and the money due to social welfare recipients are just too horrific to imagine. However, there are too many harsh conditions attached to the bailout. I refer, in particular, to the interest rate which will place enormous pressure on the country in the context of meeting repayments. Between one quarter and one third of the entire tax take will be required in order to service the interest payments on the loan we have been given.

I am of the view that Ireland is being used as a test case in the context of future potential disasters within the eurozone. We are being obliged, unjustly and unfairly, to pay for the mistakes made by the banking sectors here and in Europe in respect of reckless lending. We are the puppets dangling at the end of a string and are under the control of elite groups of bankers who are solely motivated by their own interests and preserving their profit margins. I do not believe that the terms "banking" and "altruism" can be used in the same sentence.

How does taking on further debt assist us in repaying our existing debts? Global justice organisations have long been monitoring the impact of IMF policies, particularly in countries such as Mali, Zambia, Honduras and Guatemala where they have had disastrous consequences. The role of the IMF has been to oversee the transfer of wealth from ordinary people to corporate interests. The agreement into which we are entering will lock Ireland into a specific economic model, dominated by policies which impose suffering on the less well off in society. It also will diminish Irish democracy as it will remove aspects of economic decision-making. Why have the issues of leaving the eurozone and default been dismissed so readily? Why do we not ensure that Ireland has a proper stake in the Corrib gas field and other natural resources estimated to be worth in excess of €400 billion? Will this mean selling off profitable and successful assets such as the ESB and Coillte? It is interesting that a former Taoiseach is chairperson of the International Forestry Fund, which is likely to make a bid for Ireland's forests. Last year, Members were told that we had turned the corner but it looks as though it was into a cul-de-sac. Ireland will recover but it will be in spite of this measure and not because of it.

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