Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that the Government is working around the clock and is under massive pressure. I also recognise that this is a gargantuan task and there is little or no rule book on decision making for the Government to follow at this time. However, while we should all put on the green jersey, that does not mean that the Opposition should delete scrutiny. Oversight of the Government's actions is more important now than it ever was. I believe the response of the Government to the financial impact of the virus at the start was slow and inadequate, compared to the financial responses of our near neighbours. The €203 a week that was proposed for six weeks was seriously insufficient and would have pauperised families. We in Aontú called for companies and businesses not to lay off staff. We looked for staff to be paid at least 75% of their salaries during this crisis up to a limit of €30,000 and we called for the ability of businesses to then be able to draw down these funds as rebates from the State. This we felt would be necessary to maintain the proper income floor under families and to maintain the relationship between workers and employers during this time. We welcome the fact that the Government has changed tack in regard to some of this in recent times, especially around the debt chain in the State. There is a necessity for forbearance on credit. We cannot allow the debt to be crystallised in the hands of people who cannot pay rent or mortgages. The Government has recently changed tack on that and we welcome that change.

One of the key questions that is not being addressed is how all of this will be paid for. There is a debt chain between the renter of the home, the Government and possibly the European Central Bank, ECB. Where on this chain will the debt be crystallised? Ireland is already emerging from a debt crisis. The health service, infrastructure and housing have all been hammered over the past ten years due to the fact that we are carrying such levels of debt. Over the past ten years we have paid approximately €60 billion to service the interest on that debt. We already have one of the highest national debts per capitain the world. The ECB treated Ireland radically differently from other countries during the last debt crisis. That led to a direct cost to this State of €41 billion. We believe that now is the time to negotiate with the EU on how this debt will be resolved. Some might say this is not the time to be worrying about how we will pay for this. I would argue completely differently because if we do not negotiate on the terms and conditions of any debt that will be created at the start of this process, we will enter into agreements that could massively overburden this State with debt in the future.

EU treaty arrangements prohibit the ECB from directly funding nation states. This is absolutely wrong. There is no doubt that Britain, the US and other countries will allow their central banks to print money and put that money into the economy to make sure it functions. There is a history of the EU being against this but we are living in different times. We need to make sure that a mechanism for funding is there and that the sovereign debt of this State is not increased. If it is, we will see another lost decade when we emerge from this crisis, when health, infrastructure and housing will be hammered again. That is not an option. I ask the Minister for Finance to make sure that negotiations are entered into with our so-called European partners at this stage in order that we do not suffer from that as well.

With regard to investments for workers and those who are employed, it is interesting that Britain has indicated that it will invest approximately €400 billion into its society and economy. Adjusted per capita, that would be the equivalent of approximately €30 billion in this State. We have heard the Government mention €3.7 billion so far. New Zealand, which has a smaller population than this State, has announced an investment level of about three times what this State has indicated so far. I ask the Minister to detail how much is expected to be invested by the State to make sure that society, enterprise and workers do not suffer.

There is an all-Ireland dimension to this. The Executive in the North and the Government in the South have been at sixes and sevens with regard to how to deal with the crisis. I ask the Minister what efforts are being made to make sure that we have all-Ireland management of the economy and the health response.

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