Darragh O'Brien (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

No one contests the fact that Ireland will return to modest economic growth levels later this year and more significant growth next year. This will not occur by accident but as a result of Government taxation measures and expenditure cuts worth billions of euro taken to bridge the budget deficit and regain control of the public finances.

The British Government has announced it will reduce by £6.5 billion its budget deficit of £165 billion. When one considers that the Irish Government made cuts of €4 billion last year to address a deficit of €22 billion, one sees the scale of the challenges facing the country. The Government's decisions have been proven correct. Last week, I debated this issue with Deputy Bruton on a radio programme, in the course of which he admitted that a number of the measures taken by the Government in the past 18 months to correct the fiscal position were correct. It is a terrible pity his party did not see fit to support any of these initiatives at the time. The same can be said of the Labour Party, which agreed last year that cuts of €4 billion were necessary but opposed every proposal to achieve them.

I welcome the initiatives taken by the Greek Government to tackle the country's budgetary problems with the assistance of the European Union. The loan facility for Greece is a combined package to which all European Union member states contribute designed to ensure the eurozone remains strong. This brings me to a specific point.

We need to look at the role that credit agencies such as Standard & Poor's and Fitch have played in stoking up some of these crises and talking down countries. It seems that if Standard & Poor's and Fitch say anything negative about a country, then the cost of borrowing increases for that state. The EU needs to grapple with this, because it seems that what these agencies say is gospel. The same situation occurred when an attack on Spain was ready to be set up a few weeks ago. We should consider the bona fides of these agencies as to why and when they come out with these comments. I believe there is a sinister element to this in some instances. It is far too serious to let a few private companies around the world dictate eurozone policy here. This crisis must teach us something in that respect.

The Bill is a clear signal that the EU member states are working together in assisting Greece. We are rightly playing our part in that rescue. The €1.3 billion payment to Greece is a loan and will be repaid to Ireland at a significantly higher rate. We are seeing an end to the recession in Ireland. We are now in a position to be able to create opportunities for the people who have lost their jobs in the last two years. We are supporting over 100,000 people in work at the moment through the various employment subsidy schemes. We need cohesion within Europe, and this Bill provides it. The EU states need to work together for the good of their citizens. I would like to see the two main Opposition parties in this House trying to work in cohesion with the Government and trying to put forward some realistic policies, instead of just uttering platitudes after the event and letting the Government do all the heavy lifting. We are happy to do it because we are capable of doing it.

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