Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have always wondered how Jack's mother felt when he returned with beans, having sold the cow. I now know exactly how she felt. Sadly, however, this story will not end as well as the story of Jack and the beanstalk because when we plant our beans, they will not produce a beanstalk with riches at the top. Instead, the Government will guarantee emigration for my children and my neighbour's children, just as members of my family and my neighbour's family had to emigrate in the past.

The Government has told Opposition Deputies we would make poor negotiators. How can it claim the deal emerging in media reports this evening amounts to good negotiation? Deputies should imagine being woken by a knock on the door tomorrow morning to be told their house had been remortgaged without their permission and they would have to repay the sum involved. Imagine if the messenger then said he would return later, possibly with better news, leaving them to wait and wonder what would happen. Eventually the messenger returns with the better news that, having mortgaged the house behind their backs, he has now secured a better deal on the mortgage that was never sought in the first place but that it will cost more in the long run.

I and many others agree with the comments by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, that the debt arising from the promissory notes is unsustainable. If that is the case, how will the proposed deal make the debt sustainable? In recent weeks, I asked the Library and Research Service to produce figures based on a scenario in which we secured a deal such as that which has been mooted. It modelled the figures and worked out that a deal spread over the term that has been indicated and repaid at the current rate of interest of 3.78% would save approximately €870 million in the first year, €760 million in the second year and €660 million in the third year. If the debt is unsustainable, how would this level of savings make it sustainable? It does not do so. The Government told us the debt would be unsustainable if we did not secure the right deal. The proposal we have heard about is not the right deal.

I will not use the word "default" in connection with the promissory notes because one cannot default on a loan one did not take out in the first place. We must repudiate this debt because it is not ours. We are told, however, that to do so would mean teachers, doctors and so forth would not be paid. The figures show clearly that if we refused to pay the promissory notes, we would be left with a primary deficit of €3.6 billion this year from a total spend of €57.3 billion. I am sure we could find a way to make a saving of €3.6 billion. We could, for example, refuse to pay the Roscommon county manager the same salary as President Barack Obama receives, or stop paying hospital consultants the same salary as Brian O'Driscoll. Perhaps we could be given control over local authorities to allow me to fillet my local authority and save the country a fortune. There are ways of achieving this saving and while they would mean the big guys would no longer be paid their current salaries, we would be able to balance the books.

We are told such moves would be illegal. Since I was elected to the Dáil, Deputy Peter Mathews has proved he knows more than the vast majority of Deputies, with the possible exceptions of Deputies Stephen Donnelly and Shane Ross. When he states it would not be illegal to take such measures, I believe him because he tells the truth. If we defaulted on or repudiated this debt, we would be better off in the long run.

Whom has the Government asked to do the job on its behalf? From what I heard earlier, it will ask KMPG to do it. This brilliant company has a brilliant past as it was the auditor of a bank that cost the country €6 billion. Well done, lads. Maybe they should bring back Jack and the beanstalk.

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