Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Cabinet cannot just make decisions for developments here and there because we are getting emergency liquidity assistance. The Deputy does not seem to realise that is the case and that our country is in a bailout position. As a republic, we do not have our economic independence. Our ambition is to get that back as quickly as possible. The European Central Bank, which supplies this country with money, has said we will not burn the senior bondholders and most of that money has been paid off. However, there is a recognition from the ECB, the Commission and the IMF that Ireland shouldered an enormous burden in the way this was done a number of years ago. Our job is to try to restructure and re-engineer that with benefits for everybody but it is not a simple as the Deputy pretends, that one can just bang the table and it happens.

When one sits around with 26 other leaders, or 16 as in the case of the eurozone, they all have their problems. Some of them are in bailout programmes too but, unfortunately, we were first out in this way so it is a case of continuing to negotiate very hard in the interests of the people and relieving and restructuring that level of debt that is on our people.

The Deputy says we are not getting anything. We do not control this because we are not economically independent but through our Minister for Finance and our Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform we renegotiated very substantial elements of the troika programme, not least of which was being able to say that when the Government decides to dispose of State assets for best result, that money can be invested in job creation and sustainable programmes for our people. That was not the case previously when it was all to go to debt reduction. There have been a whole series of those renegotiations.

The Deputy should not disregard the goodwill of other governments and other leaders which has been brought about by a sense of their understanding that Ireland, in a difficult position, has made serious progress. We want to continue that progress. As I said, we are three quarters of the way across the river. We have drawn down more than three quarters of the moneys to be allocated under that programme. The way ahead is challenging but the prize is enormous for our people and our country. That is why in the course of the discussions between now and the next ten weeks, I will be interested to hear what the Deputy has to say about what can be done realistically and not his airy-fairy economics that suddenly one can go home and say this is all sorted out.

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