Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I again welcome the opportunity to speak on these issues. We are in very challenging times. The Bill is entitled the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009. That title sums up the challenges facing the economy. Listening to some of the commentary from both within the House and outside, I feel sad that we do not debate the facts. We do not discuss the situation in which the country finds itself. People continually point internally and claim that everything we are now faced with has arisen because of mistakes we made ourselves. There is a reality that we are in a global recession. There is financial turmoil. The financial institutions of the world are under great stress. Major banking institutions in large economies have gone to the wall. Other countries, including Britain and other European countries, are even finding it difficult to sustain or find funding for recapitalisation programmes. We are facing very challenging times.

People are entitled to their own opinions but must deal with the facts of the situation. The consequences of the challenges facing Ireland are obvious and very painful. We have rising unemployment. In January alone 36,000 people joined the live register. Those people feel the pain of the difficulties in which the Irish economy finds itself and the world recession. Consequent on that is the falling revenue, which is creating great difficulty for the provision of services and sustainable public finances. That is why we are debating this Bill today. The Government and any political party making up Government takes no joy in asking people to make a contribution to their pension, making very unpopular decisions but for the right reasons. If it is explained properly I am convinced that people will respond simply because the country has no choice. We cannot continue to borrow in excess of €18 billion, as we will do in 2009 to fund our current and capital expenditure programmes. That is just not sustainable. A bit of honesty and integrity in the debates by commentators inside and outside the House would help us in trying to address the problems facing the country.

We have made enormous gains as a society and an economy. Until recently we had 2 million people working. We have initiated major capital investment programmes. We have made enormous gains in the areas of health, education and social welfare payments. I accept there are still challenges and difficulties in those areas. Nobody can deny that in the past 15 years of continuous growth we have not made enormous progress in those areas with the provision of social services and infrastructural developments. The improvements in infant mortality and life expectancy prove that we have improved the quality of life for most citizens.

We are now faced with this particular difficulty. I believe in the social partnership model. The social partners were brought in to discuss the particular problems facing the economy. While a framework document outlining savings was agreed, unfortunately the unions were unable to agree where those savings would be made. However, everybody at that table believed that we were in a very dire financial situation and serious difficult decisions needed to be made. Against the backdrop of no social partnership agreement the Government rightly needed to make these decisions. It stepped up to the plate at a very difficult time and made very unpopular decisions for the right reasons.

We were criticised by the Opposition and I understand the political thrust of parliamentary debate. We were criticised by Fine Gael for engaging the social partners and leading them in a dance for too long. We were berated by the Labour Party for not engaging with the social partnership process for long enough. Fundamentally the Government engaged and reached agreement on a framework document. I know the trade union movement is proposing a social solidarity pact. We will certainly consider all those issues, but fundamentally we had a financial crisis facing us affecting public expenditure in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. We needed to introduce proposals to make savings in those years.

In effect we are here today to ask the public sector to carry a burden. Many public sector workers are angry about that issue. Fundamentally, I must ask people in the public sector to consider the longer term. The State is providing stable employment for those in the public sector. There is guaranteed employment and a guaranteed pension for those in the public sector. Many people in the private sector do not have that opportunity and neither will many tens of thousands in the months ahead. This is not about driving a wedge between the public and private sectors; this is about Ireland as a society and as a cohesive unit asking those who can carry a little bit more to help us get through this very difficult time.

Deputy Burton referred to the inscription on President Roosevelt's tombstone: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." We applauded that famous quotation when it was quoted by the Minister for Finance in the Dáil. If this Government is not resolute and is afraid to make the right decisions, then I fear for the future of our country. All Members of this House must be honest and stop playing the political game although I understand the reason people do this. However, in the hour of need, we need unity and support.

The banking sector is another area of critical importance. The analogy often trotted out in this House is that we are imposing a pension levy on public sector workers in order to put €7 billion into the banks. Everyone in this House is crying out for more credit to be made available to business and more mortgages to be made available to first-time buyers. This recapitalisation programme is of critical importance to the broader economy. It is essential that small business can access credit and overdraft facilities in order to carry out normal, everyday business. It is equally important that first-time buyers can access mortgages to purchase homes. Is the Opposition suggesting that we should not capitalise the banks? Is the Opposition suggesting we should not have put the guarantee system in place on 29 September when every Member of the House knows full well that the world financial system was collapsing?

Banks all over the world were folding, governments were shoring them up through central bank injections of capital and the Government made a critical and momentous decision on 29 September to guarantee the banks. The deposits of the banks were guaranteed which means the deposits of all the people with money in the banks. This is often forgotten by some in this House. The Government guaranteed the loans. How else would banks be expected to access loans on the international markets in very difficult times? Some of the comments in this House do no justice to the severity of the difficulties in the financial world. I hold no truck with the banks other than that I understand the reality that they are of critical importance in providing credit to first-time mortgage holders and for oiling the wheels of industry. A little bit of honesty in this debate would go a long way.

The Government could have made a populist decision, shirked its responsibility and jeopardised the future of the country. I acknowledge that Fianna Fáil has suffered because of it but we are not in the business of keeping our eye on the next election when there is a major challenge facing the economy. If we do not make the difficult decision, the next challenge will fall on the shoulders of the generations to come.

I find the slurs and innuendo made against the Taoiseach disgusting and distasteful. People in this House say they are not casting aspersions while at the same time fax machines and press offices are swirling out press statements to the contrary. This is disgraceful carry-on. The Fine Gael Party behaved very responsibly in the context of the bank guarantee scheme when it stood with the Government in supporting it. However, this sniping is being carried out at a very critical time when the eyes of the world are watching Ireland to see how we are dealing with our affairs and it does no service to the party that has a very strong and proud tradition.

I support the measures in the Bill because I know this is the right action in these very challenging times in order to address the needs of our society and country.

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