Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

They are sleepwalking through the fact that virtually every western industrialised country is suffering its most severe recession or near depression for the past 40 years. They think Ireland is a unique case and it has done something particularly bad. I invite Opposition Members to visit Japan, Britain or the USA. In January, more than 500,000 people lost their jobs in the USA and every leader, including President Obama, has declared the recession to be the most serious financial crisis facing Western economies since the Great Depression in the 1930s and yet, for naked political reasons, Fine Gael and the Labour Party are spinning the line that Ireland is in the worst position and so on.

The Minister for Finance has clarified, particularly in the context of our banks, which are crucial to the proper conduct of business in the State, that Opposition criticism in the House is undermining confidence in our banks and our reputation internationally in commercial markets and it could do long-term damage to the economy. It is high time the fightback started against these Members, who are completely irresponsible. It is about time they showed a little support to Ireland Inc. and stopped talking it down.

To give some credit where credit is due, as I recall it, the Labour Party voted against the bank guarantee scheme but Fine Gael supported it. There was absolutely no choice at the time but to support the banks and introduce that guarantee. There was virtually a run on the banks at that stage. Lest anyone give the wrong impression that it was just Ireland, they should consider the state of the banks in Britain, including the great Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland. All of these banks have been brought to their knees by one of the greatest financial shocks the western world has seen perhaps in the past 100 years. We needed to take action and we took action.

We then had the case of Anglo Irish Bank where the Minister made it clear that if this bank failed there would be a systemic risk to the entire Irish economy. It was not just internalised in Ireland because there are counterpart banks all over the world. How would the Opposition like the headline: "Irish bank defaults on its international obligations"? Would any international businessman or businesswoman touch Ireland with a barge pole for the next 20 years? I fully commend the Minister for Finance on what he did on that occasion. It is about time that the Opposition parties started to support the Minister for Finance instead of niggling through every line out of which it possibly can get a cheap headline.

Of course nobody likes emergency measures. I sympathise with those public servants, the majority of whom do a great job. I sympathise with them being faced with the extra financial burden. However, the Government is committed to those public servants. It is committed to their continued employment if at all possible and to providing them with good pensions on their retirement. This is a mechanism necessary to provide them with those pensions. When people have come into my clinic and complained about this levy, I have looked them in the eye and said that I am sorry but that we will do what is necessary for the future of the country and for the future of their employment.

People should be aware that given the scale of that gap between €37 billion and €55 billion, we are in for even more difficult times in the future. The Taoiseach outlined a schedule, of which the European Union is fully aware. Next year there need to be cuts of €4 billion, with further cuts of €4 billion, €3.5 billion and €3 billion in the following years. That is a lot of pain, but that pain must be borne if we want to get Ireland back to a sustainable level and if we want to get people back in jobs, buying motorcars and houses, going to restaurants and enjoying the type of normal life we have had for so long. However, let us stick to the truth. I accept it is possible to say we should have done more with the property market in recent years. It is very difficult when we do not control our own interest rates.

Another myth that is promulgated is that nothing positive was achieved with all the surplus moneys we had from the Celtic tiger. People conveniently forget the great reduction in our national debt. The Opposition conveniently forgets the money put aside in the pensions reserve fund. It conveniently forgets all the great progress with the new roads, bridges, Luas lines etc. In this difficult debate I call for a little bit of honesty around this Chamber. Let us accept our failings, but let us have the decency, honour and integrity to be honest in one of the most difficult debates of our time. I commend this very important, serious and necessary emergency Bill to the House for the sake of our country.

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