Results 9,021-9,040 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: That is not very helpful.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: When we get to that section, the Senator can raise the issue.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: We are on section 2 at the moment.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: The rest of Europe will wait for the Senator.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: It will be €1.27 billion between now and 2014 in five tranches of €254 million each twice this year, twice next year and once in the first six months of 2014.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: This is a public debate on the issues we face. We need more of this. I want to take up one of the points raised by Senator Michael D'Arcy on the question of the national debt and speak honestly about what the national debt is. The last time I asked the Department of Finance how much we owe as a country, from recollection it is about €186 billion, and about 23% of that relates to the...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: I should be more closely attentive to the Senator's speeches in this House. From now on I will write down everything he says.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: We are, however, heading in the wrong direction on the debt; we know that. It will reach a maximum of 118% next year, and the only way it will come down is for the economy to grow. The more growth we have, the smaller the liability as a percentage of the total size of the economy. That is the crisis we face. Inflation is the other way of doing it but we must get those numbers down. I hear...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: Exactly.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: It was a good idea.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: If people wish to oppose this measure, they must put forward an alternative. It appears the only alternative is a default position where one effectively defaults on the commitments one has made. In our case, the consequence of owning the main banks, apart from Bank of Ireland which is in 50% State ownership, is that their liabilities and assets belong to the State. One may agree or...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: They take their bank accounts and get out. Who is left? It is the person in receipt of unemployment benefit, the carer and the pensioner who will see their living standards slashed repeatedly. If Members oppose section 2 because they say they have an alternative, I want to hear what it is. I want to hear about circumstances in which Ireland can gain access to money at a rate of 3%. No...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: Everyone. As I understand it, some of the credit unions in this country are included among those dreadful people, the bondholders.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: I will conclude on this point.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: I will conclude by noting that this mechanism, through section 2, allows Ireland access to that emergency fund, if needed, which I hope it will not. Second, it gives Ireland additional confidence in trying to get back into the markets, an objective with which everyone agrees. It is welcome that Sinn Féin wants Ireland to return to the bond markets. It did not want us there before the...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: If that can happen, Ireland will be in a much better place. In accepting section 2 Members are accepting that while Ireland may need this fund, more importantly, it is in place as a substantial backstop towards the support the country will need in the future.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: It is in the manifesto.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: One does not pay into it.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: They think they will not get their money back.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jun 2012)

Brian Hayes: I am not sure I have an awful lot more to add. I very much agree with Senator Gilroy's comments. Section 3 follows section 2 as night follows day, and the House has divided on section 2 already. I am not convinced about Senator Cullinane's view that some kind of quantitative easing in the ECB would solve our problem. The reason wealth is behind a currency is that it provides a guarantee....