The €64 Billion Question

Nat O'Connor: In 1955, the $64,000 Question was a 'big money' quiz in the early days of American TV (Wikipedia). Six decades later Ireland's bank debt question is one million times bigger! That's €64,000,000,000.

The Congress of Trade Unions has organised a national protest for Saturday (9th February) and Fintan O'Toole discusses a petition website in today's Irish Times. There are already more than 7,000 signatures on an Avaaz petition against the repayment in Match.

For those who would like to know more about the technical detail, the NERI is holding a special seminar on Wednesday (6th February, 10:30) that will propose some options.

More technical detail can be found in the various blog posts on this site by TASC economist Tom McDonnell:
- A powerpoint presentation here: The Promissory Notes
- Link to another briefing papers here: Karl Whelan's briefing paper
- Link to NAMA Wine Lake's analysis on a deal: Any old deal won't do

Dr Nat O'Connor     @natpolicy

Nat O’Connor is lecturer in social policy in UCD’s School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice and part-time policy specialist at Age Action Ireland. Previously Director of TASC, Nat also led the research team in Dublin’s Homeless Agency.

He has taught politics and social policy since 1999. He has a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in Political Science and Social Policy from the University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), a member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and chairperson of the Irish Social Policy Association (ISPA). You can find him on LinkedIn (natoconnor) and TwitterX @natpolicy