Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the Government would like to spin to the effect that it got rid of the toxic debt but sometimes it can be difficult to listen to hard truths. People want to know what the deal will mean for them. They want to know what it will mean for the person in mortgage distress, the mother whose child is planning to emigrate or the person who is unemployed. Does it mean they will not pay back the debt? Under the Government’s proposal to turn the promissory note into a sovereign bond that will be put out into the market, every single man, woman and child will pay approximately €14,000. That is not the deal the people were waiting for. That is not the mandate the people gave the Labour Party or the Fine Gael Party. What we wanted was a debt write-down. As I said last night, the Government has wound down Anglo Irish Bank but it has not wound down the debt. What we have found out today is that instead of winding down the debt, the Government has cranked it up. It has placed liabilities on the State and on this and future generations.

I will conclude with a number of questions because the detail is still scant and we must tease it out and parse it. The Taoiseach indicated that the deal will assist us in reaching the troika targets by approximately €1 billion. He is aware that under the Government’s plan next year’s budget involves €3.1 billion of tax increases and cuts. More austerity will be heaped on top of the €30 billion of adjustment that took place in the past six budgets. Could the Taoiseach confirm that only €2.1 billion will be required as a result of the initiative he announced today?

Could he also tell us the net present value of the promissory note replacement and the net present gain in that regard? For how long has the Central Bank agreed to hold on to the sovereign bond? Serious questions must be asked. This time last year the Government said it would not pay the promissory note. We know from Mario Draghi that he took copious notes at yesterday’s European Central Bank dinner and its meeting today. The question remains as to how the deal will be a benefit to people. How can it be presented as a fair deal when the overall mountain of debt on the Irish people has been increased? The Taoiseach might decide to shake his head but he has not announced an interest-free bond. He has not announced that the Government will issue a zero coupon rate bond. If that were the case it would cost €28 billion. The Taoiseach has said there will be an average interest rate of 3%.

That is what is happening. When one gets rid of all the spin, although Fine Gael’s Labour Party colleagues applauded the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the Taoiseach, the Government has doubled the liability on the State and the people.

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