Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

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 one is putting up his or her hand and telling me where Ireland can get money at 3%. Section 2, in putting in this capital, will allow the country, in a scenario which I hope will not arise, to get money at some point in the future. If Ireland puts this money into this credit union, as I describe it, at some point in the future the fund will borrow on Ireland's behalf in the international money markets. Moreover, what Ireland will be charged on is the tiny additional margin for obtaining these funds. At present, it gets funds at 3%, while the money markets would charge 7%. If Members can tell me where Ireland can get money at rates of 2%, 2.5% or 3%, I will be all ears, but I have not heard it yet.

If one is honest about this, the European Stability Mechanism does two things. Were Ireland to need this emergency fund, it would be available at very cheap rates in comparison with those at which the country could borrow in the money markets. Second, however, it is in place as a confidence boost towards getting Ireland back into the money markets. People talk about borrowing and money markets as though they were faceless bureaucrats and people with all this money piled up behind them. However, they represent pension funds and other ordinary people. They represent all kinds of individuals-----