Ex NTMA chief Somers: 'Awful to see emigration return'

The former chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has said homeowners could be facing the prospect of having to pass on their debts to their children.

Michael Somers said we were facing into an extremely serious situation.

"People say we could go back to being quite a poor country again," he said, adding that we have already seen a return "of something we never thought we'd see again - the curse of emigration".

"It is awful that after 90 years of freedom we're now saying to our young people again 'Go and find your future in another man's country because we can't give you a future in our country'," he added.