Taoiseach accused of 'denying reality' by saying banks were not bailed out

Micheál Martin told the Dáil that 'the banks were not bailed out. Shareholders in the banks were not bailed out' and instead 'the State took equity'.

The Taoiseach has been accused of "denying reality" in claiming that the banks did not receive a bailout.

Micheál Martin told the Dáil that "the banks were not bailed out. Shareholders in the banks were not bailed out" and instead "the State took equity".

"That is not a popular thing to say, but it is a fact," he said.

The comments came after Solidarity-PBP TD Richard Boyd Barrett raised the ongoing Debenhams dispute and claimed the Government could not put money on the table because it would set a precedent, but is willing to bail out the banks.

"The sum of €18m is owed to the State by Debenhams. The Taoiseach did not mind setting a precedent when it came to bailing out banks to the tune of €64bn," Mr Boyd Barrett told the Dáil.

However, hitting back, the Taoiseach said he is "sickened" by the way the opposition TD "leads people up the hill all the time".

He said clarifying that bank shareholders did not receive a bailout is "not a popular thing to say, but it is a fact". The Taoiseach added that Mr Boyd Barrett "never wants to hear the facts because he lives in a fantasy economic wonderland".

"If his party ever got into power thousands of jobs would migrate from this country. That is the reality."

However, Mr Boyd Barrett dubbed the comments "utterly bizarre" and said he had been "flabbergasted and dumbfounded" by the remarks.

"It's not something that you can deny, it was confirmed by the Comptroller and Auditor General that we put €64bn into the banks," he said afterwards.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald claimed the Taoiseach and his Government is "afraid to do the right thing because he does not want to upset developers and landlords" adding that they are in "an ideological cul-de-sac".

She said the lack of affordable and secure homes is the "biggest problem facing our people" and there is a generation whose lives have been defined by this housing crisis.

She said the promise to address the housing crisis "has fallen flat".

"Rents remain sky-high, houses remain unaffordable, and the council waiting lists still heave with applicants waiting for years on end. At the sharpest end of this crisis, the number of people using homeless services has increased and we know that the true level of those experiencing homelessness is at least 20% greater than official Government figures would show."

Mr Martin said the Government is rolling out the "largest and most ambitious social housing programme in the history of the State".

He said 12,500 social houses will be provided next year, of which 9,500 will be new builds and the remainder will be leased out.

The Taoiseach said Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has brought back 2,500 voids through the July stimulus measures.