Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to contribute to this debate but we must face the realities, as stated in The Irish Times editorial today. Irish Government bond yields in international markets today are 7.06%, the highest since monetary union. Over the next 12 weeks, we, as a nation, will be fighting for our lives. The policies pursued by this Government have taken us to the edge of the cliff.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the bond investors were losing faith in Ireland's plan to lower the deficit as spending cuts threatened to undermine economic growth and reduce government revenues. That means it believes the Government has no growth strategy. It has lost credibility and is taking us to a point where our financial sovereignty and independence is being threatened. The international bondholders and the European Commission do not believe the Government can bring the economy out of recession.

When announcing his first budget, the Minister for Finance called on the people to do their patriotic duty. The Government must take that on board. Its patriotic duty should be to call a general election and allow a new Government that has a five-year mandate to bring in this four-year plan which is required and has growth prospects within it.

Fine Gael agrees a reduction to the 3% deficit is required and previous speakers referred to the sustainability of that. The problem is we must borrow €60 billion over the coming years just to survive. The Government's policies have put us in a situation where we are in hock to international bondholders and cannot function. At the same time, these international bondholders believe the Government has no growth strategy.

Some 22,000 of the 450,000 people on the live register are in my constituency. Their biggest worry is whether they will be able to survive. The biggest worry among the rest of the population is whether they will have a job. They face Christmas, are talking about buying presents and are worrying about making ends meet. This Government has given no hope. Fine Gael has a definite growth strategy, NewERA. We will shortly bring forward a growth and jobs strategy to take account of the current economic climate.

Will the Government sit back and reflect? It blames the world economy. The projections for the European economy are that it will perform better than expected three months ago. There was a growth rate of 1.2% in July. The growth rate in the eurozone is 1.3%. In the last quarter, the UK had better growth rates than expected. It is expected the growth rate in 2011 will be 1.8%. The US economy is growing as well. Exports are the only light at the end of the tunnel. Will the Government come down out of its ivory tower? It is so out of touch that Ministers drove into Farmleigh House last Monday in their €200,000 chariots. That does not generate confidence among the people.

If the Government is serious about bringing this economy to a situation where we do not have to avail of the rescue package in Europe, it should go to the people and allow a new Government to formed. We have a 12-week opportunity to ensure we put forward credible plans so that we can go back to the bond markets and access money in January and ensure plans are put in place in order that people have confidence that their jobs will be secure so they will begin to spend again.

At this stage, the Government should do its patriotic duty and allow us to show the international bond markets that it is willing to support the effort to bring Ireland back to financial sovereignty and independence which can only be done by a new administration because this one has lost all credibility in the international markets.

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