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Everybody’s talking about…
Debt.
Yesterday the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it will no longer allow Greek banks to use Government debt as collateral for loans, depriving them of a key source of much-needed cash.
The news came around the same time a Technical Group Motion calling for a European debt conference was defeated by 72 votes to 42 in the Dáil. Many Irish onlookers had hoped that if Greece was able to renegotiate the terms of its €240-billion EU-IMF bailout, Ireland might be able to do something similar.
The ECB’s move is seen as the institution taking a hardline stance on Syriza’s anti-austerity rhetoric. Greek stocks fell by 9% in early trading this morning.
Independent TD Catherine Murphy tabled the debt conference motion, which was debated in the Dáil on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Murphy said that Greece paid €8 billion to service debts of €315 billion in 2014, while Ireland paid €7.5 billion to service debts of €214 billion, noting: “It cost us almost as much to service €100 billion less.”
Who, in other words, gets the best deal from its international lenders: good Ireland or bad Greece?
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday night, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the Government “has made major inroads into making our debt more affordable and minimising its impact on the economy”.
Noonan rejected the suggestion there is a “lack of solidarity in the Union”, saying he wished Greece well as the country has “suffered much more than Ireland”. He said he had “not come across any proposal from the new Government on putting in place a debt conference”, noting that the country seems to agree with the stance that “a process of negotiation is always better than one of conflict”.
The motion was backed by several opposition TDs but was easily defeated in the end.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny is set to meet with the presidents of the European Council and European Commission in Brussels today, but is not expected to raise the issue of further debt concessions for Ireland.
Whether or not Syriza will make any headway on renegotiating Greece’s debt – and if this will have any impact on Ireland – remains to be seen.
The agenda
Inside Leinster House
Government TDs are becoming increasingly annoyed about the confusion surrounding water charges.
Fine Gael backbencher Andrew Doyle has said the information given to TDs and Senators needs to be clearer. On Monday, the Wicklow TD appeared on Tonight with Vincent Browne. He was quickly corrected by his fellow panellists when he said that people who missed that night’s deadline for Irish Water registration would not receive their €100 water conservation grant.
Doyle later told TheJournal.ie: “I was definitely unhappy that I seemed to be given the wrong impression about the water conservation grant,” adding that the Department needs to be “clearer in the dissemination of information“.
What the others are saying
In case you missed it
On the Twitter machine
Jan O’Sullivan has launched the first-ever guide for primary school teachers on how to deal with homophobic and transphobic bullying.
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Should be able to click in tá and nil to see easier who has voted in favour/against what and who didnt vote at all
There’s an excel sheet online somewhere that tells you where everyone sits so you can work it out. I’m not on the computer at the moment, so I can’t give you the link, but I think it’s on the Dail website. Your way would be a million times handier though.
Exactly Sam, we are paying for this afterall. It should be accessible as standard.
Mrs that my point though. Why should we need to get an excel sheet out to navigate through democracy? In this day and age we have the technology to make this much more user friendly. Point and click a seat see bio, voting record, attendance, salary, expenses, committee membership, contact details and SIPO returns etc.
I completely agree, the amount of time I waste going through that sheet finding out who voted for what, and after all that, it’s a bit out of date too. I would love to see a page that has all that information in just one click, and to be honest, I reckon I could even make it myself if I had a bit of time, because it’s not even that complicated in terms of technology. But you’re suggesting the Dáil does something that makes complete sense and would make things easier and clearer for voters and people interested in Irish politics. It’s not going to happen. =P
High Treason from Fg and Labour actively blocking any possibility of a deal on bankster debts
What the hell? Fg and labour taking steps against the madness of bailing out bankster debts and undermining any chance of ireland getting a deal. Traitors the lot of them. Afraid greece succeeds where ireland failed in case it makes fg and labour look bad. Party politics over the interest of irish people!
Because they care more about keeping in with their mates in Brussels than they do about their own people or the Greeks.
Turn coats
What have the Greeks ever done for us Luke?
Georgios Samaras and Ouzo
What have the Greeks ever done for us? Gave us the notion of democracy, also a large part of what we call civilisation. among other things.
Speaking statistically, couldn’t 51% of the country inflict tyranny democratically on the other 49% of the country. With not everyone registered to vote, and with people who are registered and don’t vote, couldn’t a much smaller number like 30% of the people inflict tyranny democratically on the other 70%.
Half of Georgia Salpa?
They really don’t care!!
They do care Trevor…..about that cushy Brussels number their all foaming at the mouth for.
Because our ‘democracy’ is a thin veneer and the Oireachtais largely serves the interests of big capital and not the vast majority of Irish citizens.
Corruption
Corruption and TREASON
Sure why would you be inviting people into the town who might blurt what actually happened?
Anyone who voted no against a debt conference should be ousted from dail eireann for not acting in ireland’s interest. Basically all of the government td’s.
Because we are sado-masochists.
We enjoy the pain…At least the government has told us we do. In which case,we are also gimp slaves too!!
Wake the gimp Mark
Anyone who supports this government or any of its austerity measures is a GIMP, it’s the only way to explain why!
Thhe gang of 4 tell the cabinet what to do, the cabinet tells the whips and they tell the TDs which way to vote. Its called democracy Irish style
Bang on… the ‘Economic Management Council’ fascism FG styleeee.
4 guys, whipping everybody else in line.
Why did the Dáil vote against a European debt conference?
I’m going with ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.
You only had to listen to that eejit Noonan with his ‘we’re alright, we’re not dependent on feta cheese exports’ comment to see that there is no solidarity with anybody that threatens a good pension. If the shoe was on the other foot and some Greek minister dismissivly suggested that ‘the paddys could go back to bartering with potatoes’ we’d have completely lost our collective s***
They like dishing out austerity and being the poster boy of austerity especially since they are immune from austerity.
Sure why would they vote for a debt conference . They wouldnt want to help the country . They get what they want big wages and pensions paid by the taxpayers no matter what.
Greece must be on a tracker
Did you enjoy your holidays? One of the perks at FG? Back in overdrive now though I see.
well look what the cat dragged out of the FG sewers
What is our national debt? €214bn quotes in the article or €154bn quoted in yesterday’s article.
Why did the Dáil vote against a European debt conference?
Because they are spineless fools that would rather bend over for the elite bankers and their political masters in Europe, than do something that might actually benefit the peoples of this country and Europe.
We are not supporting this hypocrisy,you said it yourself it was their banks and govt who were at fault,why should the average greek person suffer.This new greek govt are supporting their people and are looking for a debt write down because the debt is totally unsustainable.If they kept on going the way they were there would have been violent rebellion.
Because they are the same ones who flushed our sovereignty down the pan???
As in Ireland the media and academia in Greece did not expose the fraudsters in government and banks who were safely ensconced in positions of power for years and who eventually bankrupted the country.
Now they want the citizens of other EU countries to pay.
No way Jose
The Greeks are making hypocritical demands on other countries in the euro zone, some of which are poorer than Greece, to pay for the recklessness and irresponsibility of their own governments and banks over decades.
We should not support this hypocrisy.
They were in massive debt but the IMF made it worse for them due to the euro, they had to borrow money to look after the euros wellbeing and that added to their mess.
Interesting note . The gap in vote was 30 seats. At least 17 opposition seats were marked white for abstentions or no vote. Stop pairing arrangements!
well done to the government yet again
Explain to me why we have Peter Sutherland advising the Irish Government when he was the very person whispering in the Irish governments ear during this last minute crisis bailout…. He is Chairman of Goldman Sachs those invested interests are still vested interests…They have taken no hit and suffered no backlash.. The banking inquiry serves NO purpose unless we are changing the system… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Z_WcRJzcA
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