Labour and FG criticise ongoing bailout

THE OPPOSITION parties have accused the Government of providing consistently inaccurate information about the full cost of the Anglo Irish Bank bailout, following the decision of the EU Commission to sanction the injection of another €10 billion into the bank.

Fine Gael spokesman for Enterprise Richard Bruton expressed grave disappointment that the latest EU decision meant taxpayers would now be hit for €24.4 billion, a further €2 billion above the “worst-case scenario” figure previously presented by the Minister for Finance.

Mr Bruton said Nama must now cease purchasing loans from Anglo Irish Bank, as it was merely adding to the bill the taxpayer was paying to rescue a dead bank.

“It is intolerable that scarce taxpayers’ money is being continuously poured into a bank that will never lend a red cent to business and will form no part of Ireland’s economic recovery,” he said.

Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan had pointed out that, even without the benefit of hindsight, the bank guarantee had been spread far too wide and impaled the State on the necessity of pouring good money after bad into Anglo, he added.

He pointed to the statement by Anglo chief executive Mike Aynsley at the Oireachtas Finance Committee last June – that the lion’s share of the funds would “never be seen again” and would “end up in a black hole”. This represented a depressing reality for taxpayers, Mr Bruton added, who were being subjected to higher energy costs, multiple levies and a Government with no jobs plan.

Labour Party frontbencher Joe Costello said the total cost to taxpayers of the Anglo bailout now stood at €24 billion, and with Nama transfers not due to be completed until next spring, the figure could get even higher.

“My party colleague Deputy Joan Burton said in June that the €22 billion already committed to the failing bank will not represent the full extent of the bill facing the taxpayer. Time and time again Anglo is proving to be Ireland’s biggest money pit ever.”

The Government had consistently been wrong on Anglo, and it was hard to fathom the determination to keep the bank afloat regardless of the cost to taxpayers, who were facing a monumental bill for the coalition’s bad decisions.

“Their figures have been constantly inaccurate from the original draft business plan published for Nama underestimating the cost to the taxpayer of the cost of the Anglo bailout,” he added.