Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

Is it the case that if we repudiate the private banking debts the markets might consider lending to a State that would be in a much better financial position? Setting aside this question, which the Minister might answer briefly, is it the case that much of the deficit results from the fact that 350,000 extra people are unemployed? As a result, the burden on the State's finances adds up to approximately €7 billion. The reason we have such a big deficit is because so many people are unemployed. If we put those people back to work-----

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