Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I support the Government on this motion because I have confidence in the three fundamental policy areas with which any government must be concerned at present. The Government is doing the right thing.

I challenge Members to imagine themselves in the position of being in government last September, shortly after Lehman Brothers collapsed and the whole international banking system came to a grinding halt. If they had been approached by the Central Bank, the treasury management agencies and the other banks and told our banking system was about to freeze up and collapse and money was about to flood out of the country, would they have taken a different decision? Would they have said, as the Labour Party seems to suggest, "All right, let it go."? The lesson that had been learned in the previous weeks of just letting the banks go had been calamitous. Think what the consequences would have been for this country. Deputies should put themselves in the position of making that call. Would they be willing to risk it and see if the whole banking system would collapse or survive? It they take that perspective, they will understand what the Government has been trying to do in the banking area. It is not something the Government would choose to do, it is not bailing out the banks or doing it for its friends in the banks. It is doing it for the country, to try to recover from the mistakes that have been made in our banking system and put them right. It is not an easy or popular decision, but it is right.

In terms of the budget, I listened with interest to Deputy George Lee earlier. It is true our biggest issue is our private debt. Our public debt is only a fraction of our private debt, which has built up over the past 20 years. Inexorably, year on year we have increased our level of indebtedness. That is probably the biggest challenge we all face, including everybody outside this House. In order to help us manage our private debt, we need to get a handle on our public debt. That is what the Government has been doing over the past year. This is being done with difficulty, hardship and pain, but this is an unavoidable action that is the right thing for the Government, or any government, to do. The job is not finished. We have a four or five year plan that has been accepted by the European Union and European Central Bank. We need their acceptance because they are assisting us in our banking solution. Therefore, we must adhere to that plan.

Deputy Lee's speech showed soul and he made many valid points, but he provided no substance on how we would bridge the gap that exists. I have not heard that substance from any of the Opposition. Take, for example, the approaching budget where a further adjustment of €4 billion is required.

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