Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

Thank you. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. There is a pattern developing in the Opposition. We saw it before the summer, when there was almost a hope that our interest rates would not be reduced in order that we would be listening to statements about how the Government got it wrong. Interest rates have been reduced through the good work of our Government. Equally, our corporation tax rate remains in place, which was also the subject of a prophecy of doom. The new buzzword in this term is our sovereignty, which apparently is under ever-increasing threat.

Some questions were raised about the ambition of this Government. The ambition of our Government is to get people back to work and paying taxes, and with that income to start reinvesting in our public services and the people of our country. To arrive at that point, we need to go down a journey that has been predetermined for us by an agreement made by the last Government and this sovereign State.

I want to take a moment to address some of the terms being used today, such as bailout, austerity, paymasters and best boys in the class. The bailout is effectively a loan, where the international community has agreed to lend our country money to pay our way forward over the next few years. It is entirely reasonable that as this country demonstrates through good government that we can repay our loans in due course, the cost of that borrowing should be reduced. However, the bailout is effectively a loan. Our paymasters are the people who are giving us the loans. These are the people who see faith in the Irish people and in the Irish economy and are willing to allow us to have the opportunity to pay for our public services.

The most important word is austerity. I studied economics in UCC, although not to any particular PhD level, and austerity is effectively the ability to balance our books. It applies to every household and to every business, and over time in the international community it must apply to individual states. No matter what happens in the world around us, our economy must arrive at a point where we are austere. It is being used as a negative term, but the reality is that we must bring in what we pay out to sustain our economic development. The objective is to increase revenue through having people back at work in order that we can invest in our public services.

Someone said to me recently that Ireland should not be described as the tail of the European dog, but rather as a small individual dog among 27 European dogs that are working together for all the people of Europe. As we prove that we can be different from other countries that are experiencing economic difficulty, we can give an optimistic view to the international community, not just of our own island economy but of the European movement and the European economy in general. It is time the Opposition took into account that the European movement and the European Union has served our people extremely well in the past and that the money flowing into our economy at the moment is coming predominantly from European sources.

I welcome this Bill today. It is time for Europe to endeavour to get ahead of the curve, but I certainly feel that there should be an optimistic outlook that Ireland can be a domino that will push back against some of the negative dominoes that have been falling. The yield on Ireland's bonds have been falling recently, as have our interest rates. There is a great sense that Ireland is becoming a country where foreign investment is welcome and that people can trade in our country and see a positive outcome. I welcome the Bill and I hope it passes Second Stage.

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