Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)

I agree with nearly everything Deputy Wallace said. Are the 24 other parliaments sitting today, with their Prime Ministers telling them it is a great victory and relating how they told European leaders the way forward at the Brussels summit on Monday? This is an agreement dictated by one nation to the rest of us. This is a German prescription for Europe. The Taoiseach's speech referred to that period being over and the future being growth, employment and small businesses but he is whistling past the graveyard. What was so notable about what he said is that what is going to happen in the future was not made specific. If anyone can tell me how austerity and a stimulus programme can be reconciled, that person should ascend into heaven immediately. It will not happen and this particular project will suppress growth, not just in Germany but throughout the 27 nations. Every member state is going back to their people and painting a false picture of the future. The economy of this country will be dictated by outside forces and in the main by one particular doctrine. We have accepted that. The idea that we can paint a picture of future growth, reductions in unemployment and a great future for SMEs is nonsense. It will not happen and the Taoiseach's refusal to spell out any projections for employment or unemployment indicates that to be the case. It would be an absurd hostage to fortune and the Department of Finance is projecting an unemployment rate that only comes down marginally during the tenure of the Taoiseach if he continues until 2015 or 2016. It is not realistic to do that and it would be better if we had a clear and honest message to the Irish people, that there will be very little growth, unless something extraordinary happens, and that this is part of a doctrine that we must adhere to in the future. That is the depressing message.

Yesterday, figures from the Central Bank show that lending to businesses, despite the Government's protestations, fell in December by 1.6%. The banks protest, along with their colleagues in government, that they have not just set targets but are lending more to businesses. They are not, they are lending less rather than more. The problem with the German, Dutch and Austrian agenda, which we are being asked to dance to, is that they are low unemployment areas, with Germany at 8.6%, Austria at 4.1% and the Netherlands at 4.9%. I said this during Leaders' Questions and I want to expand on it now.

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