Pensions Levy Bill to be Rushed Through the Oireachtas

We have been presented in the Seanad with the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009 to deal with the pensions levy. It appears the Government is intent on legislating by emergency whenever the opportunity arises. We have done this in regard to the banks guarantee scheme and the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and now we are about to rush this legislation through the Houses.

This is an entirely inappropriate practice because we should be given time to consider this legislation. With the benefit of time, more knowledge has been made available by the Government to the Opposition than was the case when these other legislative matters were rushed through.

EU Criticism Of Irish Recovery Plan

There is a headline in The Irish Times today, “Irish recovery plan provokes harsh criticism from Brussels”, which refers to the Government’s plan to restore its public finances and come within the 3% limit for Government deficits, which it submitted to Brussels.

We have the highest public deficit in Europe at present. The Commission says the plan is unclear, underdeveloped and that the “sizeable cumulative fiscal consolidation objective”, which is presumably the language used by the Government, “is neither allocated to the revenue or expenditure side nor supported by measures”.

It is a damning criticism because what it is really saying, in rather polite terms, is that the plan is simply wishful thinking by the Government. This comes from an authoritative and independent source, the European Commission. It confirms what Fine Gael has been saying for some time, that the Government has failed to set out a credible, fair and balanced plan for economic recovery.

We can talk about the banks and the importance of the banking sector to the Irish economy as the necessary building block for economic recovery, but we also need a credible Government which, when confronted with problems in the banking sector, public finances or otherwise, can produce credible plans to solve those problems.

What we have at present is a Government that is bereft of ideas and which, in the case of the Anglo Irish Bank nationalisation, did not disclose to the Houses of the Oireachtas the basis on which it made its decisions.

Mansergh Mislead The Seanad In Relation to Anglo

On 20 January we debated the Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Bill 2009. When we look back at the information the Minister provided during that debate in the Seanad, we can see how dangerous it is to rush legislation and provide no adequate time or opportunity for this or the Lower House to vet legislation. Three times in his responses, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Martin Mansergh, stated authoritatively that there was no run on Anglo Irish Bank. We know something now that we did not know then, although the Government knew it, that €7.5 billion had been transferred from Irish Life & Permanent to Anglo Irish Bank and which was misrepresented in the accounts as customer or corporate deposits. This represents 20% of the deposits of that bank. In other words, the deposits at the bank were 20% higher than would otherwise have been the case.

This is an important issue when it comes to taking decisions on the recapitalisation and nationalisation of the bank. There was a run on the deposits and a further deterioration up to December and into January. The Minister of State misled this House, whether intentionally or unintentionally. To base our decisions on that type of inadequate and misleading information is very bad for the quality of the legislation we pass in the Oireachtas. The Government knew the true situation of the bank. The Minister of State did not disclose the true situation when we were making our decisions and holding that debate in the Seanad.

Taoiseach’s Strategy on the Social Partnership Talks Has Been Ill-conceived From the Beginning

The Opposition has been calling for information on the economy, indications from the Government on its proposals, and some sense of direction on where we are going, yet our pleas have been rebuffed at every turn.   

Continue reading Taoiseach’s Strategy on the Social Partnership Talks Has Been Ill-conceived From the Beginning…