Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is again referencing a hard Brexit or indeed no deal if the British fail to get a deal from their discussions. This makes the decision of the Government, if the Taoiseach can confirm it, to sell off a significant portion of AIB for something like €3 billion and apply that €3 billion under the un-amended fiscal rules to the writing down of something like a point on the national debt all the more extraordinary. This is an entirely futile exercise in the context of the economy growing and the debt reducing. In his discussions with Michel Barnier, did the Taoiseach look for special arrangements relating to Ireland in the case of no deal or a very difficult Brexit whereby we would get additional resources and a specific change in the fiscal rules? The Government has put forward the barmy idea of using the AIB money to unnecessarily pay down the national debt instead of investing in our roads, public transport, schools, housing and hospitals. The Government's decision is mind boggling and a disgraceful use of resources the Irish people paid for at great cost.

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