Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Government has made a bags of the sale of the State's shares in AIB, although it tries to spin it as a success. This was a botched deal for the taxpayer from day one. In its rush to get the bank back into private hands, the Government has cost the State €5 billion. This is the money that would have been generated simply by holding onto the shares. In 2022, when the Government began the sell-off, shares in AIB stood at €2.32. Today they stand at €7. The Government was told at that time that this increase in value was very likely but it still chose to plough ahead and effectively throw this money away. We know what comes next will be gold-plated salaries and bumper bonuses for the top brass at AIB. Government incompetence in this is astonishing. When is the Government going drop the spin and accept it has botched this up? More to the point, how does the Taoiseach explain this €5 billion loss to Irish taxpayers? Remember them? They are the ones who bailed out this and other banks.

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