Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, after line 36, to insert the following:

“Report on New Arrangements to Borrow intersection with existing obligations

11.The Minister shall, within 24 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how he or she has sought to ensure that any conditionalities attached to credit provided through the NAB Decision support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, along with other international obligations the member may have in respect of human rights and social, economic and cultural rights.”.

I welcome the Minister of State. It is great to see him. At their core, both these amendments seek to ensure there is continuous assessment of how the new arrangements to borrow, NAB, decision is impacting on country's abilities to respond to challenges regarding climate, inequality and other issues.

Amendment No. 1 would require that within 24 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister would lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how he or she has sought to ensure that any conditionalities attached to credit provided through the NAB decision support the achievement of the United Nations sustainable development goals, SDGs, and the Paris Agreement along with other international obligations the member may have in respect of human rights and social, economic and cultural rights. There has been recognition that past International Monetary Fund, IMF, bailouts and rescue packages have undermined the ability of individual countries to respond to the pressing challenges of our time. The named international agreements here are something which we helped negotiate and signed up to in an effort to protect our planet and its people. We must ensure that the NAB decision is used in a way that promotes achievement of the SDGs and fulfils Paris Agreement obligations, including those under Article 2.2 of the agreement in respect of common but differentiated responsibilities. It must also empower countries to enhance social, economic and cultural rights. I look forward to the Minister of State's response on how he intends to engage on these issues.

I will briefly refer to amendment No. 2. It would require that within 24 months of the passing of the Act, the Minister would lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how he or she has sought to ensure the conditionalities attached to credit provided through the NAB decision does not require a member who has sought or received credit to engage in structural adjustment programmes or to pursue austerity as a national economic policy. We know from experience that structural adjustment programmes can cause extreme poverty and debt for global south countries, many of which have never recovered from slavery and colonialism. Jamaica is a very well known example of a country which has suffered greatly because of structural adjustment programmes. Just ten years ago, 20% of the Jamaican Government's annual revenue was being spent on debt repayments. These programmes which require countries to implement austerity and privatisation while amassing huge public debt have dire consequences for the ability of national governments to tackle poverty and inequality and increase access to education. These policies have real-life impacts and increase poverty and deprivation. For example, in Jamaica in 1990, 97% of children completed primary school. In 2013 only 73% did. In 1990, 59 mothers died in childbirth for every 100,000 children born. By 2013, that figure had increased to 110. There one can see clearly just how detrimental the impact of forced austerity measures have been on the people of Jamaica.

It is also essential that privatisation and the sale of public assets are not part of future IMF agreements. The Greek Government is in the process of selling its stake in a number of the country's largest ports. This is part of a much larger process of privatisation of state assets that was a key condition of Greece's bailout from the IMF following the recession. The selling off of state assets should not form part of any financial assistance agreements. Areas of climate and housing show how the selling off of public assets and infrastructure often means that countries cannot deliver key public services for their citizens. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.