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TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has told the Dáil that Ireland still has “a number of options” to hand which could further reduce the price of its €67.5bn EU-IMF bailout.
The Taoiseach said the “discussions and negotiations” being conducted by himself and the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, were focussed on reducing the overall cost of the economic situation Ireland had found himself in.
Kenny was responding to barbs from the opposition benches who had attacked the government for apparently agreeing to a European arrangement where Greece will default on up to 60 per cent of its loans.
The opposition accused the government of priotising the European debt crisis over the country’s own affairs, saying Greece was being allowed to default on a massive portion of its loans while Ireland was not getting any such provision.
Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams had both attacked Kenny for apparently failing to secure any concessions on the bill for bailing out Ireland’s banks – which has come to public attention in advance of a repayment of Anglo Irish Bank’s bonds in November.
That repayment, due in eight days time, will see the now-nationalised bank repay $1 billion – around €720m – to the holders of senior unsecured bonds, although the government’s bank guarantee does not oblige it to cover those prices.
Adams had specifically pointed out that if this repayment did not go ahead, the government could use the money to pay Special Needs Assistants and fund hospitals and schools, saying “ordinary people were suffering at the bottom” while billions were still being given to overseas bondholders.
Adams urged Kenny not to give another “gift” to Anglo’s bondholders, and asked why it was acceptable to write down the debt of the Greek government but not that of Irish banks.
Kenny said, in response, that the Greek situation was far worse than that of Ireland, and repeatedly asserted that Ireland “was not Greece”.
The Taoiseach added that all of the current European negotiations were geared on ensuring that the problems being encountered by Greece – which may not now be able to return to the international bond markets for another decade – did not spread to other countries.
He also attacked the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party government for signing off on the “horrendous legacy” of promissory notes to Anglo Irish Bank, which had given that bank enough funds to repay its bonds as they fall due, even when those bonds were not guaranteed.
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I wonder what causes more disruption to air travel, Unions or Terrorists? I’d say Unions!
You’d wonder about SIPTU’s real agenda in all this. That deficit didn’t just happen overnight. It’s as much the workers fault as the company’s. the trustees either put too much trust in fund managers, or took their eye off the ball completely. Personally I think SIPTU are more worried about Croke park than anything else. Using Aer Lingus workers is a smokescreen.
The union guy won’t give up his wages during this dispute! I hope the union looks after these people.
They will, they provide strike pay to their members.
Here we go again! Ryanair will be laughing, counting their profits.
not quite, don’t forget they own just under 30% of Aer Lingus shares as well, strike action won’t do their value much good…
Last time they went on strike Ryanair leased a/c’s and crew to Aer Lingus and Ryanair operated some of their flights, probably just do the same again
The unions have wanted this strike for some time. They get to shut down the country and show how powerful they are. They’re ok with their big wage packets, while they screw the ordinary people of this country. Not nice people!
Hey, idiot, the Union doesn’t decide when people strike, the workers do
Their as bad as the teachers almost for striking
If you become an employee of a semi-state company – as aer lingus was – you are compelled to join their pension scheme. It’s a requirement. If you are required to join the surely the company that insists you Join has an equal responsibility to ensure the fund is properly managed and has a funding plan that is both acceptable and practical? Workers are just fighting for their pension rights.
Spot on Seafra. The comments above blaming “the unions” seem to imply the big boys in Liberty Hall are putting a gun to the heads of their gullible members to force them to strike. It’s the majority of Aer Lingus workers that made the decision and fair play to them for fighting for their pensions.
I reckon the government will introduce a law that will allow companies losing money due to strikes to hire new staff or fire the striking party! they did it in America in the 80s when air traffic controllers striked and shut one half off the country down, the government simply passed a law because because they seen it a potential threat to the economy and fired them all replacing them with the many people that were looking for work at that time.
Please don’t strike I’m flying with them late next month, haven’t had a break in years. I’m living for it :(
For the past 25 years at least it is the same old story with Air Lingus
Yawn yawn
have your say