Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Only when history is written in 40 or 50 years time will we realise how big a week this was for Ireland as regards whether the right decisions were made. It has been 11 months of hell for our people and we only have one month left in 2010. Tomorrow is 1 December, and many people in business have said to me, in effect, "If we get to Christmas, we shall see whether we can struggle on".

Everyone would like to believe they can put this year behind us. Whether it is the IMF that is in control or whoever, we all have a responsibility to get the IMF out as quickly as we can. We have to reclaim our sovereignty back, because by God, it took us so long to get it. I do not know how it may be hurting any other Member of this House, but it is hurting me to think that the Germans, the French and the British are talking about putting money in for the good of Ireland. They are not putting it in for the good of Ireland, but rather for themselves. Whether it is 2.8%, 5.8% or 6.8%, I am not a fool and neither are the people fools.

We cannot pay back those billions. At some stage there must be renegotiation and if the euro is saved, they will have to look to Ireland and write off some of that money, because we simply cannot pay it. I am delighted to hear my colleague saying we will not support the budget. The people who will be asked to pay that will be those on middle and lower incomes. That cannot be done in my constituency. Those are the people I deal with on a daily basis, from morning to night from Ashbourne to Bailieborough. They cannot meet it and any government that tries to force this on them would see us turning against each other.

To think some people are being asked to work for €7.50 an hour when others are earning nearly €200 an hour and will not be touched. That will lead to anarchy. Our young people, after all the education they have received, deserve something. By God, they got some education in the past 11 months. They had a great time for a few years because of their education and everything, but the biggest buck they will get is that there is no jobs for them.

We have to start talking about jobs from 1 January. As some Members from other parties have said, we have a great deal to be proud of. We have a country that is half built. Only half our schools are built. There are 200 girls in Navan, first-year students who have no school to go to next September. Their friends have got their places but there are absolutely no classrooms for them. That has to be addressed. There are people there to build schools, and when we set out to build them, we should not give the work to other than these Irish people.

Agriculture is ready to explode. We have the best farming facilities, the best regulation, the best dairy, beef, sheep, pig farmers in the world. Some 100 million extra people are coming into the world every year, most of them in Asia, and they are eating European foods. We have to start being positive, and promote farming. We need to get people to stay on the land, and persuade our educated people not to go to Australia. Already Australia is full. Three times this week I received phone calls from people who went to Australia. They are roaming the streets there already. That has to stop.

We have to do what India did in the 1970s and 1980s and look after our people. We cannot have people leaving these shores, some of them ending up in jails, without any way to get home, or wandering the streets of Australia, Canada or England. We have a responsibility, and any Member of the Dáil who wants to come back when the new term starts just to serve out his or her time, should stay at home now, because there are many young people here who want to get this country going.

Every day this Government stands still and prevaricates, because it is not being positive in what it is doing. It is causing jobs to be lost and general mayhem. I listened to the Minister, Deputy John Gormley this evening and could not believe what I heard. He is a broken man. If he has sleepless nights, he should quit now. The only one who should have sleepless nights over a business is the bank manager, because it was he or she who gave the money. This Government has a responsibility to its people, not its parties. Do what we are asking. Fine Gael has a plan on how to get people back to work. Give us that chance. Give the people a chance. The parties in government have had a good time at it.

They did much good, too, no question when one looks at the roads and sees what has been done. However, they should take the break and give people who want to run the country the opportunity.

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