Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

For clarity, we have not avoided borrowing €3 billion per annum for the next ten years. What we did was borrow €28 billion this year. It just so happens that we borrowed the €28 billion this year at a lower interest rate than that at which we borrowed the €3 billion in previous years. Hence, the lower cost of funding. Let us be under no illusion, we issued a bond to the Central Bank of Ireland. This means we borrowed the money this year.

There appears to be a conspiracy of silence around the promissory note bonds. I asked the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to identify the bondholders or to take steps to identify them and he refused to do that. I also asked him to present to the House an estimate in respect of the savings for the promissory note bond restructure. His response was that that was too complicated to do. I recently asked him for an amount per bank that was already guaranteed on the night of the bank guarantee under the €100,000 guarantee and was told that information is commercially sensitive. The Irish parliament is not allowed to know how much money was guaranteed on the night of the bank guarantee. With respect, the Taoiseach has completely avoided the question.

Regardless of whether it can be achieved, we are asking that the Government requests an exemption so that the bonds can be destroyed. Before this can be done, it is important Members of Dáil Éireann know whether the Taoiseach believes that the Irish people, regardless of whether they end up paying the money, should have to pay that money to cover the bad investments for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

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