Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has told the House that the Act which established the rainy day fund "was commenced on 31 October last and the fund was subsequently seeded with a €1.5 billion transfer from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, on 15 November". As we approach the end of December, that entire strategy has been upended. I am not a supporter of the rainy day fund. I think the Minister acknowledged in his Budget Statement that it was discovered after the decision was made to raid the €1.5 billion strategic investment fund to put money into a rainy day fund that the latter fund can only be used to bail out the banks yet again.

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