Sinn Féin finance spokesperson, Pearse Doherty TD has said Minister for Finance Michael Noonan must answer basic questions on Ireland’s banking negotiations.
“Today, I engaged directly with Minister Noonan on the critical issue of Ireland’s Promissory Notes payments. This is the first time in two very eventful weeks that as a TD I have had a chance to quiz the Minister on the developments. His failure to respond and dismissal of Sinn Féin’s questions as negative is a disgrace,” said the Donegal TD.
“This week we know the ECB rejected Ireland’s preferred option of dealing with the Anglo-Irish Promissory Notes. We have also heard prominent economists state that they believe Ireland will have to pay the €3.1 billion due on the notes at the end of March.
“The minister must face reality and accept that the public needs to know what is happening. Using the Bertie Ahern approach of ignoring the issue and dismissing the questioner is not good enough.
“I asked the minister several straight forward questions, for example:
“Will Governor Honohan be bringing another proposal to next week’s ECB Governing Council?
“Why after 18 months did the government present such an easily dismissed proposal to the ECB?
“And most importantly: What will any deal or lack of deal mean for next year’s budgets ,for our health and education services and for families struggling to pay the bills?
“These are basic questions that it is my duty as an opposition spokesperson to put to the Minister.
“After nearly two years he has yet to show that his government is capable of standing up for Ireland and delivering a sustainable deal on our banking debt. Now, he is failing to answer basic questions about his banking policy.
“The public deserve to know if the government has any real plan to prevent €3 billion of taxpayer’s money being wasted again this year.”