Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I want to address five issues — the Stability and Growth Pact, the Lisbon Agenda, sustainability, the UN summit and some comments on Europe. In welcoming the necessary changes to the Stability and Growth Pact, we must acknowledge that the primary task for which the pact was established was to make the selling of the euro an acceptable political project, particularly in states such as Germany for which the creation and stability of the deutschemark was the crowning achievement of post-war democratic stability. Most Germans right across the political spectrum attribute the rise of fascism directly to the hyper-inflation of the 1920s. A stable currency was an absolute necessity, therefore.

It was against this background that TheoWeigel and Helmut Kohl had serious problems in trying to persuade the German population, and by extension the DM zone which included Austria and The Netherlands, that in replacing this sound foundation of post-war democratic Europe which had known either communism or dictatorship in the previous period, the euro would be a stable success. It has proven to be so. I invite this House and Eurosceptics elsewhere to consider that despite the political turbulence within Europe and worldwide recently, there has been no currency speculation since the single currency project came on the horizon.

The early 1990s, for example, witnessed the first Gulf War followed by difficulties in Asia with the meltdown of the currencies in Thailand and Malaysia. None of these events has had the slightest ripple effect on European currencies. As Minister for Finance, the Taoiseach had to grapple with such difficulties in September 1992 and is more aware than most of the problems in that regard. Each time there was a political hiccup anywhere in the world, the markets went crazy, mortgages went through the roof and small businesses were crucified. The real success of the single currency is evident in what it has avoided rather than what it has achieved. We should not be shy in singing that song.

The euro was originally obliged to be a straitjacket in order to be sold to a nervous constituency. I welcome that the straitjacket has now been loosened. A distinction is now made between countries with a low level of national debt and which use capital investment for sound purposes and countries which indulge in a spending binge. However, we must be careful in how we relax the rules. During the time of its design, I attempted to explain the Stability and Growth Pact by comparing it to a joint account with either a business or personal partner. One must take the other party's signature on trust and assume he or she will not write a cheque for an amount in excess of what is in the account. If a large economy such as Italy were to lose the run of itself, it would have a negative impact on other member states in terms of interest. Notwithstanding this, the necessary changes have been dealt with and I join the Taoiseach in once again applauding the chairmanship and direction of Jean-Claude Juncker in this area.

I wish to refer to two specific items arising from the Council's deliberations in order to evaluate Ireland's performance. The issues of infrastructure and the upskilling of the workforce are two examples of an entire area of deficit to which we must address our attention and energy. Unlike the Single European Act, where one of the Commissioners, Lord Caufield, was able to identify 315 legislative measures at European level which, under the Presidency of Jacques Delors, member states had to achieve collectively as a political entity, most of the necessary tasks that must be undertaken by the participating member states in achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda must be done primarily at national level and we must impose that discipline on ourselves.

I invite Members to see if they can recognise Belmullet, Sligo or Donegal in the following description contained in Article 27 of the Presidency conclusions:

The Single Market must in addition be based on a physical internal market free of interoperability and logistical constraints. Deployment of high-speed networks in poorly served regions is a prerequisite for the development of a knowledge-based economy. In general, infrastructure investment will boost growth and bring greater economic, social and environmental convergence. Under the growth initiative and quick-start programmes, the European Council emphasises the importance of carrying out the priority projects in the field of transport and energy networks and calls on the Union and the member states to keep up their investment efforts and to encourage public private partnerships.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs knows more about the delivery of broadband than I do because of his previous responsibility. When one listens to the small print verbalised on ads on the radio, one notes that terms and conditions apply and that broadband is not available through Eircom right across the island. We have fallen dramatically behind in terms of the delivery of broadband. The Independent Deputies from the west coast can sing and shout for as long as they like but they will never secure development in the region unless broadband is delivered. I refer also to Galway East, the constituency of the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy. If we had relied on market forces to deliver either rural electrification or piped water, there would still be houses and towns without either in this day and age.

See this speech in context