THE DETAILS DISCLOSED in draft documents which outline Ireland’s proposals to meet the terms of its EU-IMF agreement have been heavily criticised by Dáil opposition this evening.
TheJournal.ie has published extensive details of the draft documents that have been circulated to the Departments of Finance in the 26 EU member states which outline the austerity measures that Irish people will likely face in the years to come.
The fact the documents’ existence came to light after it emerged in a parliamentary committee in the German Bundestag has been criticised by opposition parties and TDs but the detail of the documents, revealed today, has also been heavily criticised.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this evening Independent TD and Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee member Shane Ross said while the detail was “pretty predictable” the measures were “tyrannical” and “in keeping with the craven attitude of this government to the EU-IMF deal”.
“It’s a humiliating document because the measures which are in there are at the whim of our European masters,” Ross said.
He said the fact the documents had come to light the day after Taoiseach Enda Kenny went to Berlin to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel was “deeply embarrassing”.
“It has come to light a day after he was visiting Mrs Merkel attempting to spin the line he was standing up to her, then here comes the Bundestag with the content of the Budget. What message does that send out? That Germany is dictating the pace of the budget and we will be accepting it,” he added.
Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty was also critical of the documents’ disclosure to the other 26 EU member states before the Irish people, saying it was ”quite outrageous”.
Doherty was also angered by the disclosure in the documents that all unplanned revenues such as those that come from the sell-off of State assets must go towards servicing the debt burden.
This disclosure contradicts the government’s public statements that it hopes to use the money from the sell-off of State assets to fund job initiatives. Doherty said the sale of State assets is “a disgrace”.
“That the proceeds of any such sale are to be used to pay off toxic banking debt adds insult to injury.
“The only way for the Government to end this embarrassing episode is to make the documents in question available to TDs as we have more of a right to see them as do TD from the other 26 member states,” he added.
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