Seanad debates

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

2:30 pm

Photo of John GilroyJohn Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

With the benefit of hindsight we can see how awful and hateful that decision was, but also probably how necessary it was. If foresight was as good as hindsight, we would not have any problem. I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Finance to come to the Seanad to discuss the issue. Ireland has direct exposure of €365 million, which is our contribution to the ESM. I believe I heard of an overall Irish exposure of €2.4 billion to a Greek default or write-off.

The Greek debt stands at $370 billion. According to the World Bank, the debt for the entire Continent of Africa last year stood at $390 billion. The Greek debt is the same size as the debt of 54 African countries. We are asking here if we can write off debt. In light of that figure, we need to know where our priorities should lie.

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