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

That is not an excuse. I will not get into the debate on the debt but notwithstanding the rights and wrongs of how much Ireland is paying out, borrowing and all the rest, it still has investment funds, albeit perhaps not as much as one would wish. Nevertheless, such funds exist and the NTMA has money. As for going to the international markets to borrow money, I note that at present, Ireland is borrowing money to pay back the international markets. It is borrowing money from the markets to pay back to the markets, at interest. It is a win-win situation for them and a lose-lose situation for us.

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