Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

People arrived from across the world to find out how we have come to this conclusion. They were here almost every week wondering about the Celtic tiger - the myth of the Celtic tiger as has been clearly illustrated. They do not come anymore because they see that we were deluding ourselves. We were living in a land of myth, leprechauns and fairies. That is all over now and it is time that reality dawned upon us.

It has been reported that property prices have now bottomed out but I disagree. A European Union colleague referred to this country as being one of the most expensive countries with the highest wages in the eurozone but no reference was made to the fact that our high property prices were the highest in Europe for some considerable time, both inside and outside the eurozone. I do not know how we came to the conclusion that this was sustainable. Whether we like it or not, there is a gap of €20 billion which we must address. It will mean hardship for every citizen and for a long time to come. It does not make any difference what any economist says because we have to pick up this baton and run with it by ourselves. It will be down to us and not down to any expert opinion or advice from any quarter.

Having listened to what we were told over the past ten or 15 years, I am horrified that so much was taken for granted by people who should know better. What happened over that period cannot be reversed in ten or 15 days or even in ten or 15 months but it has to be resolved. The biggest single contribution we can make is to show those outside this country that we are capable of taking on this project because the alternative is political oblivion. This may not be realised by people. We will either sink or swim. We will either prove we are ready for it and capable of delivering or we will succumb and be swamped. It is very easy for the Opposition to say we have been in government for the past two or three months and we have not solved the problem. I am tired of us being lectured by leaders of other countries. I am also tired of lectures from potential leaders of this country as to what we should do. We have arrived at a very difficult juncture and we are now paying the price.

The banking system has been discussed on many occasions. We all have experience of constituents at various levels of society who ran into difficulty with the banking system. This applies to the small business sector in particular. People ran businesses well and did not over borrow and ran their show as it should have been run. However, when they applied for a renewal of their overdraft, they were told by the bank that it was time for the banks to look over their business. The banks called in part of the overdraft and offered it as a term loan over a period. That was the end of the discussion. That is not how this is supposed to work. A great deal of money has been provided to the banking system in this country and it is time for the banking system to prove it is capable of doing the job it has been given. All of this happened while they were on watch. The time has come for the banks to show they are capable of so doing their job, having particular regard to the fact they did not do a very good job over the past ten or 15 years. They resented any attempt by anyone to suggest they might have been wrong. What an appalling thing it was to suggest that ordinary human beings might be wrong.

We must address the situation, engage with it and overcome it. If we do not do that, our position will get worse. We must also engage with our European colleagues in the national parliaments of other member states because they think we are a bunch of delusionists who believe in magic. They believe we have been avoiding the issue for several years. They have listened to us carefully and they have come to a conclusion. The time has come to address the issue, to stand up and be counted and to avoid saying popular and populist things. We must address this difficult situation and, most important, we must not mislead the people. We must not pretend there are easy options because there is none. If we do our job, difficult as it may be, ultimately we will come through.

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