Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Taxpayers' money to the tune of €20 billion was invested in Allied Irish Banks and it was taken into State control. AIB has now returned to profitability for the first time since it was taken into public ownership. Anyone with a lick of common sense would hold on to this asset as a steady source of income for the time ahead and as part of the necessary process to get a return for the people's €20 billion investment. We could not afford that. The social cost is the lack of investment in housing, health services, other vital public services and the crippling burden that has been forced on working people, the homeless, emigrants, people in rural Ireland and citizens with disabilities. Fine Gael is now going to sell off AIB as part of its privatisation agenda which will not benefit the people of the State. Sinn Féin believes this is wrong. It is based on Fine Gael's narrow ideological view. Under the supply and confidence agreement, it will have the support of the Fianna Fáil leader. Why would he not support the Government? Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party supported the EU fiscal rules which they now protest so much about. Those who will benefit from this sell off are the insiders, fat cats, the elites and, of course, the vultures as the bank sells distressed loans. Those who will lose are ordinary citizens. They will lose a valuable strategic banking asset. With this sell off, democratic accountability and influence over the bank will end. It will probably be bought by a private bank and workers will have justifiable reason to be concerned about their terms and conditions. Those who run small businesses and mortgage holders who find themselves dealing with a totally unaccountable private bank will get into more and more difficulties.

This is probably the Taoiseach's last Leaders' Questions. Like many other things, that is not quite clear yet. On a personal level, I wish the Taoiseach and his wife, Fionnuala, and his clann all the best. I wish him good luck and good health. As he looks back over the last six years, he can take comfort from his consistency, at least on this issue. He has been very consistent. He is finishing where he started. During the height of the Celtic tiger, Sinn Féin argued for the surplus to be invested in essential public services, including public health services and housing. That was dismissed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party. They would not socialise the wealth, but when the banks got into trouble, there was no problem socialising their debt.

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