Labour is being “entirely disingenuous” when it talks about trying to renegotiate the interest rate on the IMF/EU loan according to Sinn Féin Galway West candidate Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
Mr Ó Clochartaigh said Labour’s claim “misses the point”. He said: “If they believe we cannot afford to pay the interest, can they explain to the electorate how they are going to repay the actual loan of €67.5 billion beginning in four years time?”
Mr Ó Clochartaigh was also critical of the out-going Fianna Fáil Government saying the EU/IMF loan was “a bad deal”.
“Over half of this loan will be put into insolvent banks,” he said. “The debt servicing on the State’s debt by 2014 will be €8.7 billion. We cannot afford this level of debt. We cannot even afford to pay the interest never mind the loan itself. Fianna Fáil, Labour, and Fine Gael need to explain how they intend to pay all of this money back.”
