Parliament grills Taoiseach and troika over bailout

A questionnaire that could unlock some of the secrets of Ireland’s bailout has been sent to the Taoiseach and the troika by the European Parliament.

It asks how involved the Government was in drawing up the austerity programme, who suffered most under the measures, and whether the ECB pressured the State into burning the taxpayers rather than the bondholders.

They have been given three weeks to respond to the 25 questions by the parliament’s economics committee, which plans to have a report ready by March.

It is investigating whether there was sufficient democratic control of the troika, which has overseen bailout programmes in Ireland, Greece, and Portugal, and whether some of the measures breached EU human rights law.

Committee chief Sharon Bowles said the troika’s way of working needs to be revised. “We cannot have decisions affecting the very heart of a nation made in a dark room in the depth of night with no one taking responsibility for the repercussions. The troika must be accountable for its decision and the impact of [that] decision on a nation.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is being asked:

* How much of a say did the country have in designing the programme;

* If he asked for anything specific in return for agreeing to the programme;

* If the cutbacks were spread fairly among citizens and between the private and public sector.

Mr Kenny and the troika are being asked if countries wanted specific conditions for agreeing to the bailout; Ireland at the time was under pressure to change its corporation tax laws.

They are also being asked if the conditions took account of the fundamental rights in the EU treaties and whether they were satisfied with the objectives and outcome of the programme.

The ECB is being asked if it demanded reforms and imposed condition in exchange for liquidity support and open market operations.

Some of the correspondence from the ECB to the Government have been released. The questionnaire asks if such letters were sent and if so, then to whom and why. Some of the questions deal with a conflict of interest between the ECB and banks in bailout countries and how auditing companies were chosen.

MEPs grilled troika staff from the ECB and European Commission at a special meeting last month, when they demanded details of how troika decisions were taken.

MEPs need to finalise their report by March before the parliament is dissolved ahead of elections in May. They hope the next parliament will go into the matter in even greater detail.