Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

When the first note was issued by the Department of Finance on the promissory note, it included the cost of capital payments and interest on these capital payments. It also included the cost of borrowing. In the response given by the Minister he has not included such a column. I do not dispute the €47.9 billion figure which takes in the capital and interest payments, but there is an issue with the cost of borrowing. If we are to assume we could borrow at the rates at which we borrowed in 2009 and 2010 - 4.7% - the overall cost of the promissory note, until the last payment on 31 March 2013, will be in the region of €74.63 billion. It is proper that this figure be noted in order that people will understand the full cost of the promissory note to Anglo Irish Bank. It is not conceivable that we will not have to pay anything to borrow this money and we could argue about the 4.7% rate which is probably conservative and could go down but it could also increase. We are, therefore, left with a ballpark figure of €75 billion to pay the promissory note. My question is the same as the one tabled to the Minister. What is he doing to reduce the cost of this debt on the taxpayer? Does he believe we should continue to pay €75 billion to Anglo Irish Bank? Why has the promissory note repayment schedule been extended to 31 March 2031 from 2025 in the original note? Why has the cost increased to that extent?

See this speech in context