The promissory note ‘deal’ announced by the government is no deal for Irish Citizens according to Sinn Féin Councillor Rose Conway-Walsh. There will be no real benefit to ordinary citizens suffering under the weight of austerity and it will have no noticeably positive impact on the government’s budgetary position in 2012.
Cllr Conway-Walsh said: “The €3.1 billion is an Anglo Irish Debt which the Irish government has now paid with a long term bond. This move firmly pushes this private banking debt into the category of sovereign debt. Anglo are exchanging that bond with Bank of Ireland for one year in return for €3.1 billion cash. Anglo will then use this cash to repay their Emergency Liquidity Assistance loans and we will pay Bank of Ireland in 12 months. This is not a deal with the ECB rather it is an arrangement by the Irish Government to take on this debt, which represents almost 20 per cent of GDP, on behalf of Irish Citizens.”
The Sinn Féin councillor added: “Financing any debt on this short-term basis is nothing short of bizarre. It will cost us €90 million this year. That is almost half of what the government aimed to bring in with the household charge. That is €90 million that could be spent on hospital beds and staff to ensure that people can have vital operations and procedures done.”
