Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity, before the European Council meeting, to debate this issue. I hope it will mean the Dáil has some input into Government policy as presented by the Taoiseach at the meeting.

I echo some of the points made by the last speaker. There is a certain unreality to debates in this House about Europe, the euro and the European economy, especially the issue of default, which is not mentioned very often by name. The problem is that the Government, with its large majority, has, for obvious reasons, set its face against default. Fianna Fáil is also opposed to it. There is no one who would advocate it, but there are people who would say it is inevitable or likely. That puts the Dáil out of step with the markets, out of step with many independent commentators, and out of step with a great deal of international opinion.

The markets, which function as a type of forensic judge of what is likely to happen and what independent people consider is likely to happen because they put their money where their mouth is, are signalling that both Greece and Ireland will possibly default. This is not acknowledged in this House often enough. It is imperative, even if we are not going to be told about it openly, that the Department of Finance, the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach have a plan B in the event of a forced, as opposed to a voluntary, default by this nation.

The key to the question of what happens tomorrow is whether we have a European strategy at all. What is needed is an attitude whereby we will go to Europe and say we are putting Ireland first, that our interests are Ireland, Irish interests and Irish taxpayers, not external interests, external money or external investors. We welcome external investors in a certain capacity but they are not the bondholders. We must make that absolutely clear. Ireland is constantly receiving plaudits for being so diligent in paying back the punitive loans negotiated by the last Government. I do not want to hear plaudits from Olli Rehn along the lines of Ireland being good at paying back the money and why can the Greeks not behave like the Irish do. I do not want to hear plaudits from the spokesman for the European Commission who asked again last week, waving his finger at Greece, why that country could not behave like Ireland and pay back its debts. The message in respect of Ireland is that these guys can take their punishment.

We should not take this punishment; we should refuse to take it. We should have Olli Rehn and the boys telling us our behaviour is unacceptable, but instead we are the good boys. We should respond by showing our ingratitude to the IMF and Europe and by taking a new, more aggressive strategy which puts Irish taxpayers first. As I said during Leaders' Questions yesterday, it is no good continuously going to see Christine Lagarde and coming out with absolutely nothing - no return on the interest rate or anything else. Ms Lagarde will be gone to New York within a week and we will have to start again with a new French Minister of Finance. The strategy of courting the French has failed abysmally.

The Taoiseach said yesterday that the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, borrowing status has changed and that this will encourage foreign investors to invest more readily because they will not be bottom of the queue. However, the markets did not respond to this development, which was received as a minor matter. If the effect of the change were as indicated, the markets would have responded with a reduction in the cost of Irish bonds. Nevertheless, I welcome the Minister's announcement that the bondolders have been burned. I welcome that there was, for a few days, an indication that Ireland was standing up to the ECB. However, let us take a more constructive, more proactive and more aggressive attitude. Let us be proud of what we are doing and give a commitment, first, to have a referendum on the bailout, second, to burn the bondolders and, third, to renegotiate the debt. We should go into the European Council meeting tomorrow with a programme which the members of the Council will fear and respect rather than applaud us for. The equation is that applause from Europe means poverty for the Irish taxpayer.

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