Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

The vote that will follow this afternoon's debate will certainly be one of the most important votes since I was elected to the House. I think it will be one of the most important in the history of the Dáil. I am glad the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, and subsequently the Government, agreed to the request made by Deputy Michael McGrath and me that this matter should be brought before the Dáil. It should be noted, for the purposes of the record, that we sent a letter to the Taoiseach saying we intended to pursue this important matter six days before the Sinn Féin solicitor's letter was sent.

It is noteworthy that since the IMF deal was announced, the Opposition has not used its own time to discuss it. The Government has not done everything right throughout the economic crisis, but it did the right thing in this instance only for the Opposition to say a debate and a vote would be a waste of time. The public, including my constituents, were right to be enraged by the way the Government handled this issue in the middle of November. I hope this debate provides some catharsis at the end of that episode. The manner in which these things were communicated to the public was totally unacceptable. The Government was doing the right thing by the country. It is not always possible for one to play one's hand in public during a process of negotiation. The public definitely felt aggrieved. I hope this debate and the vote that will follow it will do something for the people.

Last Thursday, when the board of the IMF announced that it intended to postpone its decision as a means of showing respect for the decision of this House, Deputy Kenny came into the Dáil Chamber almost in a panic. He intervened when a division was being called to express his serious concerns about what would happen if the deal failed. The Deputy's moment of panic shows how much real belief there is within the Opposition. Deputy Gilmore has accepted - for the first time, as far as I know - that a deal is needed but he does not think this deal is the right one. I would describe it as the politics of "yeah but no but yeah but no but yeah but no but". It is the Vicky Pollard school of politics.

During this debate, not one of the shrill opponents of this deal has spoken about those who are unemployed, those who depend on social welfare, public sector workers or public services. We need to explore what they mean when they say we cannot afford it, starting by setting out what exactly this money will be spent on. Some €10 billion of it will go to the banks, unfortunately. It is possible that this figure will increase to €25 billion. Some €50 billion of it will be used to pay for public services, social welfare, hospitals, schools, gardaí and all the rest. That is a fact. If one says we cannot afford this deal, one is saying we cannot afford our public services. I am not prepared to countenance that.

My form of politics is based on defending the emblems or hallmarks of a cohesive and just society. The Members of this House aspire to defend them, but cannot always do so. That is what this deal is about, in my view. The State, through its public services, should look after the vulnerable. Those who oppose this deal should tell people on social welfare that they are going to take a chance. They should tell public sector workers that they are going to take a chance on their wages. The alternative to this deal is to borrow at 9%, which we cannot afford. If one decides to renegotiate the deal, one will take a chance on the public and on the country.

Rather than elaborating on the positive aspects of the agreement - for example, it mentions improving competitiveness, shrinking the banks at long last, getting lending out and protecting the poor and the vulnerable - I would like to mention an announcement that was made on RTE news this morning. The report in question, which suggested that the interest rate will be three percentage points above the 5.8% rate that has been agreed, was corrected after a time. It was utterly scandalous that an anonymously sourced and inaccurate piece of news which would enrage everybody was allowed to be broadcast. I was shocked by it.

Who is the anonymous source of the information that was given to RTE? Many of those who have placed on the record their opposition to this deal are players in the bond market. Did one of those in the markets who are trying to short the euro, and thereby make money from this crisis, give this inaccurate information to RTE? I understand RTE corrected its report following severe pressure from the Department of Finance. I was in telephone contact with the Department this morning on my way to the Newstalk radio station. This matter is so serious that it deserves to be the subject of a statement from RTE.

We would like a better interest rate. Even if we got €1,000 for everybody in the country, the Opposition would still have a complaint about it. Let us get on with this deal. Let us do it. Let us protect our public services.

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