Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 4, line 13, to delete “Minister” and substitute “Oireachtas, should Dáil Éireann be dissolved approval shall be made by a decision of the government and approval of Seanad Éireann”.

The effect of the amendment means a vote would be required in the Oireachtas rather than simply a decision of the Minister for the money to be extended and the loan of €1.85 billion to be made. The Minister of State raised the point on the Committee Stage debate as to what would happen if the Dáil were dissolved. In our opinion, the amendment provides the best possible safeguards in that scenario, whereby it would have to be done by the Government acting collectively as opposed to the Minister. It would also involve the Seanad, as the Seanad could obviously be recalled and the parties would be represented in the Seanad, so it could also play a role.

The broader point is that we are against the whole process of setting up this massive bank bailout fund and we will presumably be against the extension of the money in such a circumstance. We think there should be a democratic right of the Dáil to have a say in this. Events in Italy, even in the time since we discussed this on Committee Stage, demonstrate the point in terms of some of the fundamental weaknesses of the overall European approach to the banking crisis and the scale of the crisis that could be coming down the line. I have read that, in Italy, there is now a phrase, le sofferenze, which means "the suffering". It does not refer to the people but to the debts that simply cannot be paid. The amount of bad debt held by the banks in Italy is estimated at €360 billion. The idea that the State - the public purse - in Ireland and ordinary people would be on the hook for another significant round of bank bailouts is obviously something we are against. Therefore, we would seek to have a mechanism for a democratic vote on this before any money is extended. We understand that it is a loan, but nonetheless the point stands.

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