John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When the history of Ireland in the 21st century is written, one of the most despicable and almost implausible moments will undoubtedly be the €31 billion gifted by the ECB to two zombie banks through its branch office in Dublin, the Central Bank of Ireland.

I have enormous pity for the teacher who will have to explain to future generations of schoolchildren how and why an Irish Government stood over the decision to pay back the debts of private corporates and individuals. Why did that Government refuse to seek an alternative to borrowing? Why did it then burn this colossal sum of money, while paying back the interest on all those borrowed billions and the capital?

More than 100,000 e-mails have come in posing the simple question of why the Government did not seek to cancel the debt. Perhaps that teacher will be lucky enough to have a permanent job, or perhaps he or she will be on a JobBridge scheme, preparing young charges for emigration, such is the legacy of the promissory notes.

Despite the Government's best intentions to convey the impression that the sovereign debt deal has made the remaining €25 billion of promissory notes go away, everybody knows this is inaccurate and far from the truth. The sovereign debt schedule that replaced the promissory notes does not affect the nominal, monetary value of that mammoth sum. It may make life a little easier for the Government, but future generations will be saddled with debt to the EU, the ECB and the same international bondholders whose greed bankrupted this country in the first place.

While savings from the so-called promissory note deal earlier this year could have been used to reduce fiscal consolidation or as an investment stimulus, the Government opted to continue to suck money out of the economy to the tune of €28 billion in the past five years. Over the same period, 300,000 have emigrated and we are now saddled with more than 400,000 on unemployment benefit.

The European Central Bank has said, on the record, that no documents were ever submitted to EU institutions by Ireland to request improved terms on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, has said that a write-down of the Anglo Irish Bank debt was never an option. Surely, however, the opportunity to test this was when Greece was given its debt write-down. Surely Ministers of the Government owed it to the people who elected them at least to ask, but they did not even do that.

The Government has failed the people by negotiating a better deal on the bailout at the expense of ordinary people. Despite lofty pre-election promises, the Government failed to negotiate an interest rate reduction and term extension on the European component of the bailout once it took office. It also failed to negotiate with the ECB a burden-sharing arrangement for senior bondholders at the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. This is unbelievable.

Last year, at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the Taoiseach described Ireland's "mad borrowing frenzy", with many taking this as an implication that the Irish people themselves caused the crisis. The Taoiseach later told the Irish people that they were not responsible for this crisis. Why then are they being forced to pick up the tab? It is simply because they elected a Government that does not have the courage to stand up to the financial institutions.

Right now, the banks are mauling this Government. Ordinary people are being told to get lost by the banks, while banks say they will do what they like. Despite whatever legislation is introduced. the banks will continue to maul the public. The Government allowed banks, bondholders, investors and speculators to destroy the economy and destroy people's lives, even driving some to suicide. When the banks saw they could get away with that, they knew they could get away with anything and they continue to do so.

The cost of all this has been cuts to medical cards, special needs assistants and hospital facilities. Garda stations have been closed and a devastating ban on recruitment in parts of the public sector has been maintained. Irreparable damage has been done to the body politic in Ireland. No one believes anybody anymore, particularly when they found out what Fianna Fáil did to put us into this crisis. They listened to what the Government said about getting us out of this crisis, including burning bondholders and dealing with banks, but instead it placated them. This Government will pay a hefty price for that. In advance of this debate, 100,000 people sent e-mails asking the Government why it did not seek a debt write-down.

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