Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I too am glad to speak to this motion. I compliment our colleagues in the United Left Alliance for putting forward this extensive and important motion at this vital time in our country's history.

I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, is here to debate the motion. He is a reasonable man and is working very hard on his brief. This morning, I listened to a debate between him and Deputy Stephen Donnelly on the "Today with Pat Kenny" radio show. From his comments, I could tell he understands this problem as much as the rest of us do. He said we are tied into an agreement made by the previous Government. I voted against that agreement even though I was an ex officio member of that Government. I knew it would be impossible for a country four times the size of Ireland to repay that kind of money. Any half-baked individual would have known that.

It was the last Government that insisted on the EU-IMF troika being brought in. I met representatives of the troika last week. As Deputy Healy mentioned, they downgraded Ireland's growth rates this week. When we met them, they were very bullish about growth rates. Some of my colleagues pointed out there was not a hope of those rates being achieved. It is nice for them to meet ordinary elected representatives sometimes. They should not meet Ministers and Government officials all the time. The same officials were there the night the bank guarantee was agreed. The same Professor Honohan is still the main man representing us out there in a voting capacity.

Why are the bad decisions that were made by the last Government being continued by this Government? The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, like the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and all the others, made promises to the Irish people, who were aghast about what was happening. The people had a total distrust of the previous Government. They were outraged by what that Government was doing in their name.

I will admit that I voted in favour of the bank guarantee. The life was frightened out of me. The big line that was peddled was that if we did not do it, the credit unions would go bust because at least 50% of them had invested the money of ordinary local people in Anglo Irish Bank. I could not find out from the last Government how many credit unions, if any, would have been affected in that way. Nobody can find that out from this Government either. I have no doubt that one or two of them got carried away in the absence of sensible directors and invested money in Anglo Irish Bank. The other banks followed them.

It is a disgrace to visit this vista on the Irish people. It was a bigger disgrace to learn when we met the troika last week that this Government, like its predecessor, had led it to believe it had a mandate for this action. The last Government's mandate was fairly tired and spun out by the end. The people had lost trust in a depleted Government. I was a proud member of the main party in that Government for many years. I was born into it. I was disgusted. I was forced to leave it.

Many good people around the country are still angry and annoyed about the way they were sold out. What did our forefathers, including the people of 1916, James Connolly and others, fight for? Did they fight to be betrayed by bankers, by some politicians and by the regulators? We had regulators, but they were not doing their jobs. They got paid and they got pensions. They got rewarded. They are probably in other jobs now as well. Everybody knows it was a complete outrage.

Those who voted for this Government en masse are sorry now. What are they getting? The Tánaiste asked us a week ago to wear the green jersey. His Cabinet colleagues have taken the jerseys the last lads used to wear. They got them tailored so they fit nicely. They are pursuing the exact same policies even though they promised the people that things would be totally different. How do they think the people feel? We saw the results Fine Gael achieved in the presidential election and the Dublin West by-election. The people are horrified. They are turning out in great numbers at all kinds of public meetings throughout the country to voice their anger about austerity measures. They voted for the opposite.

I would like to refer to what the troika is being led to believe on a continuous basis by the Ministers and the over-paid officials who meet them. Officials in Germany and elsewhere in the EU are aghast and horrified when they hear about the wages our officials get, the hotels they stay in and the first-class flights they take. We have to get real. We have to stand up and wear the green jersey, rather than decimating what is left of our economy.

The mantra of the Labour Party is that needy and vulnerable people should be supported. Not many Labour Party Deputies are present this evening. When they were elected, they said they would save community employment schemes, DEIS schools, small schools, school transport, hospitals and nursing homes. The fear among the people is frightening. Since the administration of the medical card scheme was centralised in Dublin, nobody can get a medical card. It is disgraceful that so many files are being lost. Sick and vulnerable people are having to go through all kinds of anguish to shore up Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide. Those banks should be written off this earth.

The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, spoke about a "bomb" recently. We have had bombings in Dublin. I was in Dublin the day a bomb exploded. It was an outrageous word to use. The bombs will backfire on him. We did not get involved in world wars. We stayed out of them. It is awful to threaten people in such a way. The bomb will backfire on the Deputies opposite. We are being found out by other countries as well. Greece is getting great freedom because it is refusing to pay. The troika is telling us we are not like Greece. It thinks we are great because we are compliant. We are getting a tap on the shoulder for doing our best.

The troika was told that this Government has a mandate, but it knows different now. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, asked me last week how I got on with the troika. He used a condescending voice to suggest I had no business talking to the troika. I told the Minister he will know how we got on the next time he meets the troika. We told the troika a few truths. I am glad that a sizeable group of Independent Deputies were given a chance to meet the troika. I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy for fighting to ensure that meeting took place. We will meet the troika again.

I suggest the troika might have more respect for us than it had for the previous Government and this Government. The troika has been led astray by the lies of both Governments. It is not true to say we can pay this. We cannot pay it. We should not pay another penny. I am sure the Minister for Finance has already signed the cheque for the €1.2 billion that will be given to Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide tomorrow. It is a waste of money. It is a shame on the nation that it is happening. A bigger scandal is that a further €3.1 billion will be paid next month arising from promissory notes. Money is being shredded.

Paper trails of money were created to bail out people who lied to the then Minister for Finance, God rest him. They lied through their teeth to everybody at the time. They are still lying to the people. The banks - even the pillar banks - are not lending a bob to anybody. They are codding the people who are pumping money into them. When will we learn? When will the Government realise the futility of what it is doing? We need to stand with the people. The people will stand behind us. The people need to be given a choice. There needs to be a real referendum. The Government received a false mandate last year because it was given on the basis of false promises. I beg the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, to raise his voice. Government backbenchers should try to bring a small bit of common sense to this matter.

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