Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the Minister for Finance on the announcement of his retirement from that role. The Minister for Finance and I have a very different world view in nearly every respect politically, but it is obvious he has played a very strong role in Fine Gael over the years. He has been a mainstay of the Fine Gael Party since I was a child and no doubt he had a very settling effect on the Fine Gael Party every time it got little bit giddy over recent years. I wish him well in his retirement and many happy years with his family.

I welcome the Bill. My party is an internationalist one and believes the State should play a full role in development across the world. We are members of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which are the American and Japanese dominated development banks, so there would be no reason to shun the Chinese equivalent.

For some time I have been asking the Minister about when our application would be progressed. In April 2015, when the bank was founded, my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, asked the Minister if Ireland would join. At that point, Deputy Doherty was told that no decisions had been taken or proposed in the matter. At that point, Britain, Germany, France and practically all other European countries had joined or indicated they would join as founding members. The agreement is clear that founding members enjoy special privileges in nominating and voting for directors. Most of our neighbours will have these privileges but Ireland will not. Unfortunately, the country hesitated and dithered and we were nearly left behind. By delaying our application for no good reason we have put this country at a tactical disadvantage.

It is not clear why we delayed but the possibility exists that American sensitivities might have been behind it. American Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz, thinks our sensitivity is misplaced, saying:

In fact, America’s opposition to the AIIB is inconsistent with its stated economic priorities in Asia. Sadly, it seems to be another case of America's insecurity about its global influence trumping its idealistic rhetoric – this time possibly undermining an important opportunity to strengthen Asia's developing economies.

I cannot see any good reason a decision was not taken until December 2015. Hopefully, there will be no further disadvantages because of this. What matters ultimately is that the right decision was made. Asia is a huge part of the world with massive concentrations of population. Its economic potential compared to Europe is very large. Good trade links with China in agriculture and other areas in particular are essential to our export sector. As the Minister told Deputy Doherty last June:

Bilateral trade has grown in significance and, in 2014, Ireland's total trade with China was worth over €8 billion. Ireland's priorities relate to bilateral trade and investment, particularly: higher education; agrifood; tourism; and aviation-financing sectors.

The economic rationale for joining is clear, but it should not have been the only rationale. I note the articles of agreement state, "The Bank shall ensure that each of its operations complies with the Bank's operational and financial policies, including without limitation, policies addressing environmental and social impacts." That is, presumably, a very weak sop to those of us who argue for investment that respect human rights and environmental protections. We cannot ignore such issues when we are talking about what is effectively a Chinese bank. Many of the countries that are the likely recipients of investments have issues with minorities or national rights that must be taken into account.

The European Parliament has noted that, "so far the AIIB’s governance structures do not foresee adequate involvement of shareholders in project financing decisions, and that the publicly available project documentation lacks any detail on the fulfilment of the environmental and social measures that the AIIB requires from its lenders". We should not shirk from those questions. I believe on this occasion it is a case of being better off inside the tent than outside it. As Dr. Stiglitz stated: "Moreover, the need for environmental and social safeguards in infrastructure investment is more likely to be addressed effectively within a multilateral framework". Irish investment should be monitored to ensure our investment is not being pumped into projects that do not respect social, human and environmental rights.

The policy decision for me is clear, but we should not forget that this is not just a matter of signing an agreement. We have to put our money where our mouth is. The Minister told Deputy Doherty last week - perhaps he has updated figures - that Ireland’s membership of the AIIB could result in a charge of some €50 million on the Exchequer based on projected annual payments of €10 million per annum for five years. Looking at the figures in the schedule of the contribution made by other similar countries, that seems on the low side. Denmark, for example is down for €369.5 million and Finland is down for €310 million. Is this country trying to get in on the cheap? This is not an insignificant investment for a country of our size. It is only right that it is debated here and requires our approval.

When we dealt with the Single Resolution Board (Loan Facility Agreement) Bill, we made the point, which was accepted through our amendment, that when we sign off on international agreements, it is not good enough to have the Dáil sign off once and that changes to what we agreed can then be made without further approval. There is a question of how practical Dáil approval for change might be, but I would tend to err on the cautious side. In the Single Resolution Board (Loan Facility Agreement) Bill, the issue was that a call on this State to provide more money could be made beyond what was agreed without the Dáil having to approve such a change.

We have strict rules over the money that can be spent in Bills, which I believe is an archaic system, yet when it comes to an international trade agreement, a blank cheque can be written. We will review the provisions in this Bill to see if an amendment is required to tighten up the Oireachtas oversight. Development banks are good. We should use them far more often. Our take-up of European Investment Bank funding is a disgrace. It remains far too low, even during the current housing crisis. There is a huge chasm between where our capital investment is and where it needs to be. We support this Bill.

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