Independent audit will follow Greek lead in seeking truth about debt and cuts.
Data will be made freely available for individuals and groups to determine action.
Details of an independent audit to be undertaken into providing a clear picture of Ireland’s national debt were unveiled in Dublin today (Wednesday, May 4th).
Areas of specific reference will be to determine to whom the debt is owed, when it was incurred, how much of it is senior, guaranteed and subordinated debt, and when repayment is due to each creditor. (1)
The Audit will follow similar processes undertaken in Greece and other deeply indebted countries. It will be led by Dr Sheila Killian, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at the University of Limerick and supported by the UNITE trade union, Afri, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland as well as other trade unions and civil society groups. It will produce preliminary findings in June.
Focusing particularly on the private bank debt subsumed into public responsibility, the independent audit will seek to support people in Ireland in a real understanding of the levels of Ireland’s debt and its implications. It will be carried out over the coming months with preliminary findings published in June and made freely available.
The audit was launched only two days before a global gathering of civil society organisations in Athens this weekend, supporting a call for a debt audit commission in Greece. (2). A call for a Greek debt audit launched in February has attracted more than 25,000 signatures (3).
Jimmy Kelly, UNITE Irish Regional Secretary:
“The first exercise of debt management is to determine who you owe, how much you owe and how the debt came about. Three years after the Irish government bought a ‘pig in a poke’ proffered by senior bankers, all of whom are now gone with massive pay offs, we still do not know to whom we owe this debt. Irish civil society deserves better and we are tired of waiting for those who should have undertaken this audit. Everyone who is being forced to pay for the mistakes of a small elite will at least know who is being funded by their pay cuts, tax increases and austerity.”
Andy Storey, Chairman of AFRI said:
“The independent audit will support people in Ireland to form an opinion on where the responsibilities lie with regard to the Irish debt crisis. It will provide valuable lessons that will guide debt justice campaigning in the future and be shared with civil societies of indebted countries around the world.”
Nessa Ní Chasaide of Debt and Development Coalition Ireland:
“Debt audits can be a powerful tool to support civil society around the world access information on the debts of their countries in order to judge for themselves whether the debts should be paid, and the implications of any payment or non-payment decisions. This is an approach which is gaining international currency at governmental and citizenry levels. For example a governmental supported debt audit has been implemented in Ecuador, and parliamentary audit initiatives are being planned in Bolivia, Brazil and in the Philippines resulting from citizen pressure for debt justice.”
Nick Dearden from Jubilee Debt Campaign (UK) said:
“In Ireland as elsewhere, ordinary people are being made to pay for the recklessness and greed of the banks through harsh austerity measures. The banks have been allowed to gamble with the lives and livelihoods of the poor for too long. It is time people stood up against the power of finance and put themselves back in charge of their own economies. In Ireland, as throughout the developing world, a debt audit commission is a vital step towards a more just financial system.”
–ENDS
For more information contact:
– Rob Hartnett, UNITE (Ireland) Press Office +353 86 3851955
– Andy Storey (Afri) +353 87 6543872
– Nessa Ní Chasaide (DDCI) +353 87 7507001
– Nick Dearden (Jubilee Debt Campaign), in Greece: +44 7932 335 464
Notes
1. The terms of reference for the audit can be found here:http://www.eurodad.org/uploadedFiles/Whats_New/News/
irish_debt_audit_final.doc?n=1166
2. Debt and Austerity: From the Global South to Europe. Athens 6-8 May, http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/articles.aspx?id=4473
3. Call for an audit commission on Greek public debt,http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43171.html