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

I do not think the Minister is genuine about this. We all know a general election is due in March or April 2016 at the latest. It is likely to take place at the end of next year, but that is up to the Government and circumstances between now and then. If an amendment was tabled today to the effect that by the end of 2015 the Minister would have applied for direct recapitalisation would he accept it? I believe he would not because he does not want any legislative burden on the Government to apply in the first place as he has failed to secure any detail on this.

The Minister mentioned that Europe is governed by laws, not by personalities, but there is no law regarding how the retroactive recapitalisation instrument will work. That is the crux of the problem. There are no rules, no law, no ideas and no guidelines on how that element will work. We know how the other elements will work as that is set down in law. This is what the European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill is doing today in regard to how direct recapitalisation for any bust bank will work in the future. However, there is no provision for retroactive recapitalisation - no laws, no rules, no guidelines. The Ministers make it up as they go along. The Minister is correct in saying that he is one of the longest serving of the Finance Ministers at this time, which strengthens my point that retroactive recapitalisation depends on the personalities around the ESM board table, because it is they who decide the laws and rules at the time and who will change the laws and rules for the next group of people.

There is no indication as to what position people will be in down the road, but we know what position they are in here and now. We can have statistics, damn statistics, lies and damn lies. The Minister mentioned debt and was 100% correct in saying that our debt is approximately at 110%, but if he is to be truthful and honest, that debt remains unsustainable. Some €64 billion of that debt was made up of banking debt, but the debt to GDP ratio is reducing. The Minister should be completely factual and tell Parliament that part of the reason for that is because the services of pimps, prostitutes and pedlars of drugs, along with some other funds, came to rescue the GDP figures this year. That is why GDP has increased by €10 billion, along with research and development and that is the cause of the reduction in the debt ratio. The Minister may not be proud of that element of our GDP figures, but it is the reason. Let us not have smoke and mirrors. Our bank debt is €64 billion, almost half of which was injected into the broken banks by the Government and the rest by the previous Fianna Fáil Government. This €64 billion was put into broken banks at a cost of €14,222 per man, woman and child, or €35,000 per household.

This amendment is simple. It asks the Minister for Finance to make an application on behalf of the people. Clearly, we do not trust the Minister to make that application. Therefore, if he is to be believed, let him put it in the legislation. If he is not happy with the end-2014 deadline, let it be end-2015 or April 2016. At least it will indicate the Minister is putting his money where his mouth is and is making the application.

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