Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

If the Deputy had his way and we reneged on all the debt Ireland has signed up to, there would be absolutely no investor confidence in this country. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, announced a new investment only yesterday and there was the announcement regarding Twitter headquarters a few weeks ago.

Clearly, the environment is very difficult but the reality is that Ireland's economy has returned to growth this year. We are ahead of our projected growth targets. We will achieve 1% growth this year and it will be greater next year.

We are on the right path and consumer confidence will begin to grow, particularly if Deputy Boyd Barrett and others stop talking about defaulting and reneging on our obligations. That would mean all investment in this country would dry up and there would be zero confidence in our banking sector. It is already difficult to get banks to lend to small businesses, companies and enterprises that are trying to create and maintain jobs. What the Deputy is advocating is entirely irresponsible because it would lead to a drought of investment. There would be zero investment and we would return to recession. If that is the Deputy's solution, it is an irresponsible one.

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