Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

When the details of this bailout were leaked by the international press to the Irish media our Taoiseach had an opportunity to tell the country that our European colleagues are bullying and putting pressure on us to protect the eurozone and European stability, and that we would help them as a sovereign nation and member of the Union but we would do so on our terms. That was not done, and it is part of the reason the Green Party announced it is leaving the Government. We believe this Government has reached the end of its shelf life. Once we have done our duty for this country, we will go to the people.

However, in doing our duty we recognise that we must pass this deal. One can argue until the cows come home whether an interest rate of 6.7% from the European Union is unfair or whether the overall rate of 5.8% is a good deal. It was the best deal that could be done in the circumstances. Any leverage we had of a political nature should have been announced beforehand. What is available is now before the people.

To argue that we can somehow partially default on what we owe in the open markets is absurd. We will either have to pay a 9% rate or default. If it is a full default, we will get no more loans and, overnight, the shops will close, the tills will stop ringing, the ATMs will not work and people's wages will be cut by at least 50%. Do people want that? I do not believe so.

If we partially default, we will first have to extricate ourselves from the euro and float our own currency. That currency would devalue so even if we only owed half of what we had owed previously, it would still cost twice as much because our currency would only be worth half the value of the euro. It makes no sense.

It is fair enough if this country were, like Iceland, not a member of the eurozone and the European Union. Let us consider Argentina, a country with a level of debt similar to what confronts this country. In Argentina, the number of people below the poverty line increased from 30% to over 50% in the period from 2001 to 2004. The country went through a period of massive austerity. In our succession of unfair budgets, our standard of living is gradually being lowered to a realistic level. It is a soft landing. If we wish to play "Texas Hold'em" with our country, we will vote against this bailout. We will risk default and the country falling into a cataclysmic situation. We are guaranteed an income with a 5.8% interest rate over three years. There might yet be a sovereign default, but let it be a default in conjunction with our European Union partners. Otherwise, we will not survive as a nation. It is the patriotic duty of Members of the House not to play politics but to consider the reality of the situation that confronts us and support this deal.

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