Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Today the Attorney General has advised the Government that it is best for Ireland to have a referendum in order to ratify the European stability treaty. On foot of that advice, and in line with our public commitment, the Government has decided to consult the people by referendum and seek approval for the treaty. In the weeks ahead there will be ample opportunity for debating the detail of the treaty provisions. In the end, this will come down to a vote for economic stability and economic recovery.

When this Government was elected a year ago Ireland was in the depths of a political, economic and financial crisis. In the past 12 months the situation has been transformed through the hard work and sacrifice of the Irish people. We have re-established financial and political stability and are working all-out to achieve economic recovery. It has been a difficult path for all of us but as a country we have made important progress.

Our cost of borrowing has fallen, we have substantially re-negotiated the EU-IMF programme, our reputation internationally has been transformed and money and jobs are coming back into the country. Once again we are seeing international companies investing and creating jobs in Ireland. Just yesterday we saw the benefits of the renewed confidence in the country being translated into 200 more jobs in Cork, which in turn followed from an announcement of 1,000 jobs in Dundalk. These announcements were made possible by the turnaround that has been achieved in Ireland's reputation and a renewed sense of financial and economic stability.

Ireland is a small and extremely open economy. Our living standards and capacity to create jobs depends on our ability to trade and attract investment. For that to happen and for economic recovery to be possible, we need stability in Ireland and in Europe, the kind of stability that gives investors and families reasonable certainty about what the future holds.

Until we achieve that certainty at home and in Europe, confidence will not fully return to the domestic Irish economy and our recovery will be delayed. We need a thriving and prosperous European economy that has moved beyond the current crisis. That is the purpose of this treaty. It is part of a package of measures being put in place in Europe to stabilise the situation in the eurozone. As I have said, that is vital to our national interests.

The treaty is an important part of that package because it provides assurance that the kinds of problems that have emerged in Greece cannot happen again. Ratifying the treaty will also provide Ireland with access to emergency funds in the future, if we need them, through the new European stability mechanism. Our intention is to emerge from the EU-IMF programme without having to resort to the ESM, but the facility is an important backstop that will further enhance international confidence in Ireland.

After years of crisis and sacrifice the Irish people now have the basis on which to build a sustainable economic recovery. We now have an opportunity to go beyond the casino capitalism that brought us to this point and build sustainable prosperity based on our capacity to sell goods and services abroad, attract investment and rebuild confidence in the domestic economy.

It comes down to what is best to attract investment to Ireland in order to create the jobs we need, what will make existing jobs more secure and what will help a young couple to have confidence to buy a house, a person who has an idea and the necessary drive to start a business and families to plan and save for their children's future.

As I stated last December, if we must have another referendum in this country, so be it. If that is what we must do to save our currency and restore our economy to be able, as a sovereign nation, to borrow again on the financial markets and ensure that no future Government can ever again bring us to such a sorry state, I am confident the Irish will do what is necessary. Endorsing the treaty will be another important milestone for Ireland in our road to recovery. In the weeks ahead, as the Government puts in place the necessary measures for a referendum, that is the case we will make to the people. I am confident they will respond by saying "Yes" to the treaty.

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