Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

We will do our best. I was commenting last night on the changing situation and the debate in this House over recent months where, depending on which side of the House one is on, one hears a different side of the story. There are those who repeatedly state that we should burn the bondholders, refuse to pay and default, and every day on the Order of Business every opportunity is used to state that there will be default, the euro will collapse, we must get out from under this, and so on. People seem to have forgotten that we have some standing internationally and we are expected to stand up for ourselves. We are expected to discharge our duties and our responsibilities and fulfil our commitments. That is what we have always done. An amazing job has been done in a short space of time by the Government of digging in and setting about doing the job it was given to do. It is not a very pleasant task.

I noted that Deputy Ross raised other issues throughout the eurozone and European Union area. He was correct, but there was nothing new in what he said. Some of us have been saying that in this House for the past three to five years. This is the first serious financial crisis that has affected the European Union, apart from what has affected this country. We are fairly substantial contributors to the problems that have arisen as well, but we are not the only ones. The problems that have arisen have required a cohesive, coherent and united approach, and to be fair, the President of the Commission, the President of the European Parliament and the President of the European Council have tried to provide that. There is nothing as bad as a lack of confidence in any system, and what the international speculators have recognised quickly is that there does not seem to be a co-ordinated and united approach or a willingness on behalf of some countries to live up to expectations and the commitments they have made. In fact, there have been those Members in this House and citizens of this country who have been expounding the merits of withdrawing from the scene and defaulting. I am unsure in what world some people are living, but the reality is that default is not an option; it simply does not work that way. Some expect that we can borrow money on an annual basis to pay for public services and at the same time say to people we do not intend to pay back the money received. That is a crazy notion and attitude. There are people inside and outside the House and experts who rant and rave on a regular basis and maintain they know better and that this is the way it should be done. That is not to say, however, that everything has been done in the fashion it should have been and that European institutions have responded in the way they should have or that they have done so quickly.

Let us consider what has happened in so far as we can to try to address the issues involved and let us put in place something that will at least protect us from something like this in the future. The euro has been singled out as the cause of all the problems. Naturally, this is nonsense. Had the single currency been applied throughout the European Union the position would have been a good deal more favourable. Let us recall the position before the euro was introduced. The banking sector suggested banks would cease to exist because all of the charges for currency exchanges would be removed and that they would not be able to make a profit. It turns out that they were able to make a profit, but not everyone would agree with the way they did it.

There was always a certain bitterness towards the euro. The fact is that it offers by far and away the best chance of salvation in the current economic climate, provided a united approach is adopted by all on board. The ECB has representatives of the central bank of each of the euro member states. I cannot understand, therefore, why there has not been a co-ordinated approach, whereby everybody thinks alike and why there has not been across-the-board application of the rules and rigorous adherence to them. This did not happen because the clever hot shots who believed they were the economists of the future decided to conjure up ways and means of multiplying everything and bypassing the old and established rules and criteria and to make a name for themselves. That is how we arrived at where we are.

The European Union laid down the Stability and Growth Pact which was ignored by large countries as well as, to some scale, the authorities here. How did that come to pass? I remember how a Taoiseach in the previous Administration became apoplectic at the thought of departing from these economic guidelines. However, no one raised a hand or said a word about it. We were told about it afterwards and sleepwalked into the situation in which we find ourselves.

Where do we go from here? I believe that at least the foundations have been laid. The country has shown that it has the guts, determination, will and stamina to stand up and do what must be done, on which I congratulate all concerned. The people also recognise what must be done. They do not do so happily, but they are willing to make sacrifices. However, they have no wish to make them forever, as this hurts a broad spectrum of the population. It is all very well to preach to others and say we must all do it and that the burden must be applied equally and so on, but it is hurting some and it will hurt others even more. However, we must do what needs to be done.

At this level we must give leadership. We must stop the rhetoric, the ranting and the pretence that we are living in a different or parallel world. We must cut out the nonsense and stop suggesting we will opt out, that we will not pay and that we will continue to live happily ever after. It does not work that way; it never did and never will. I congratulate the Minister for Finance, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and all those associated with their efforts to date. They have done extremely well in very difficult circumstances. We should all wish them well and hope the current rate of success can be sustained.

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