Not enough political debate on national debt, says Tóibín

We heading for a national debt of €270bn by 2025 Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has warned. He is concerned that the figure hardly appears in political discourse. Figures supplied to Deputy Tóibín in response to parliamentary questions show the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) costs €99m-155m weekly, and the cost of the three main income and business support schemes in 2021 is €1bn per month.

Deputy Tóibín said the response from the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys highlights the cost in jobs and livelihoods of the government’s Covid-19 policies.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe told him the daily cost of the lockdown measures is estimated at €19bn for 2020 – and the 2021 deficit will be “at least” that.

Deputy Tóibín said: “While the payments are important, this is unsustainable and the inevitable by-product of the government crippling the economy. There is a human and economic cost to lockdown. Ireland is heading towards a national debt of €270bn and it hardly appears in political discourse at all.”