Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to make a few very important points on the amendment. I totally oppose this section and believe it should be deleted. This is meant to be a stimulus package for investment in projects, yet a provision is being written in for another bailout if it is ever needed. Already, €21 billion has been put into two banks from the National Pensions Reserve Fund, and it is now down to €13 billion, so €8 billion of pensioners' money has been lost. There should be no provision written into this Bill to lose more money if the call is made.

Some €64 billion has already been poured into the banks and the bailout of the bondholders and the developers who crashed this economy, as has been well recorded. We need funds for investment to create jobs for the almost 400,000 people who are unemployed, the people who are emigrating every day of the week and those who need a roof over their heads, not to step in and bail out another credit institution. It is ironic that it is written into section 42 that the money can be called on in the public interest. In the last debate we had, the Minister of State told us that nothing could be done unless it involved the private sector, but when the public interest is at stake, he is providing in the Bill that we can use public money to bail out these private institutions, which, obviously, they would be.

I am totally opposed to this. We need schools in my constituency and in many others, we need homes and we need job creation. We do not need a charter for another bailout with taxpayers' money.

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