Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

However, it is very sad to see what has happened to education in an economy that needs to invest in education.

I have expressed the view previously that when the history of this remarkable period is written, the Opposition will be indicted for having made an error with regard to the motion of no confidence that was to be moved a few weeks ago, when the drift seemed to be demoralising the people and there appeared to be no progress. The reason the Opposition refused to proceed with the motion was that we were told a four year plan that was critical to the future was about to be published, that the IMF was at the door and it was necessary to bring in a budget. So it has transpired. Yesterday, we listened to the Minister for Finance and to his little history lesson yesterday, which was entirely at variance with the facts, to such an extent that one doubts the truth of how all of this period has been presented.

First, the Minister told us that things were turning around until some malign influence got its hands on the economy during the month of August and that as a result things started to whirl out of control. The Minister arrived at the Fianna Fáil think tank and, for the first time, said the €3 billion settled on looked like it would not be enough. There was uproar as a result, but before one could say Jack Robinson, a sum of €6 billion became the matter of fact new orthodoxy that had to be taken out of the system. Anybody who thinks that in our small economy €6 billion is somehow an abstract figure will know once he has read the budget what exactly it means for ordinary citizens the length and breadth of the country, both employed and unemployed. The ESRI expressed its open disquiet about what removing €6 billion will do to our economy and I am reliably informed that the IMF was of the view that €4.5 billion would have been more appropriate.

What happened is that the €6 billion was the last throw of the dice in order to fend off the markets. That is why the figure of €6 billion was brought forward. As far as the Government was concerned, if the IMF was to come into Ireland, it was not to happen until the new Government was ensconced, but then Chancellor Merkel made her statement at Deauville and that brought everything forward by a number of months. The result is that the IMF came in anyway and the four year plan was published and we were told it was a great work of creativity by the Government. Frankly, I do not believe any of that. I believe the plan was being worked on by Brussels and that the preparations were being made for the intervention of outside assistance long before that. It went on for weeks. This four year plan is a creation of our new masters and the Government acquiesced in it. Now we are stuck with it. The Government had put the €6 billion into the public arena and could not pull it back. We are now stuck with the €6 billion, notwithstanding the view of the IMF.

What happened then was that the ECB called a halt because it had enough of the voracious appetite of our banks for liquidity, based on borrowings that no longer had collateral backup that was acceptable to it. The result, notwithstanding the attempts by the Government to stave off the day until a new Government came into office, was that the IMF came into the regime, in a fitting final chapter to the lifetime of the Government. It is like the revelation by the Minister, Deputy Gormley, under pressure last Saturday. I find it beyond belief that since 29 September 2008, Minister after Minister on that side of the House has lied about the circumstances in which the guarantee was arrived at. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, said that it was decided at a Cabinet meeting on the Sunday and that the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance agreed the details on Monday night. The Taoiseach said it was discussed on the margins of a Cabinet meeting on Sunday and was decided on the Monday night. Which was it? Does the Government any longer know what the truth is?

If we could be misled about something as big as the guarantee, how can -----

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