Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We must be relieved that the Government is not going for a second bailout at this time. Sinn Féin has always taken that position, but there has been a carnival of spin about the troika leaving these shores, as if our troubles would go with them, along with our young people. We would love to see the back of the troika, if we felt it would make any difference.

The reality is that the Government was so craven and cowardly in the face of the bondholders and banks that it introduced austerity measures that even the troika did not demand. The Government taxed and cut and changed eligibility and kowtowed to its European masters, while throughout it sang the chorus of regret and told us that the troika had made them do it. That philosophy of austerity made the most vulnerable in society suffer, and they continue to suffer in the absence of the troika. There are still plans to take a further €2 billion out of the economy next year, troika or no troika.

People are reeling at the dent in the household budget caused by increased charges and increased energy costs, the imposition of a property tax, the withdrawal of vital services even from people who need constant care, the extra school expenses and the worsening of services in health, education and social care. If the people woke up on Thursday morning and thought that matters would improve, they were wrong. We are still paying for the folly of agreeing to the fiscal compact, for which the Government parties and Fianna Fáil campaigned last year. The terms of that treaty mean that we have no control over our own deficits. We cannot make decisions for the benefit of the Irish people but are forced to keep our deficits low and keep striving to reduce our debt, which is in fact unpayable and which was inflicted upon us because of the policy of bailing out the banks. For all its talk, for all the hugging and kissing that the Taoiseach and the German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, engaged in, the Government has achieved nothing from the EU to help relieve us of our banking debt. I glad the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, is smiling.

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