Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I hope that will happen. It is not for us to aspire to defaulting. This is not a starting position from which a Government can set out. What we can do is make our debts more manageable, have a sustainable economy and deal with the real issues. There is a money system, we bought into it and must move with it. We rely on the funding of the ECB and, therefore, telling it we will not pay our debts will not get us out of the hole we are in. We have achieved savings of nearly €7 billion through agreements with junior bondholders. These are very significant changes by any standards.

Consider the phrase, "honestly deliver on its commitment to 'Get Ireland Working'". I do not know why there should be a reference to honesty or dishonesty. The wording is peculiar, to say the least.

Many in the Technical Group have argued against austerity and stated it is not a good measure. The opposite to austerity is what we had, and it was exemplified by the Bertie Ahern and Charlie McCreevy schools of economics. These got us into the position we are in and are certainly not the solution. Austerity is good provided it is equitable and targeted equally at all those who can bear it most.

We can be either a forward-looking, strong, competitive country with a positive attitude or a negative country that desires to default. I began by saying growth in the economy is very important and that we need to inspire confidence in the economy. The negativity from the now absent Technical Group is not helpful, constructive or positive. It will not get us to where we need to be.

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