Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

We cannot have a replay of the second Nice treaty and Lisbon treaty referendums. Let the facts speak and set aside the scare tactics. The question in the referendum must be clear. Does one support or reject this treaty and its content? Sinn Féin's position is crystal clear. We are against it. I am happy the Fianna Fáil leader has reminded us that Sinn Féin has been right on every single treaty since we first entered the EEC.

Ní shíleann Sinn Féin gur austerity an bóthar ceart. Ní shin an tslí cheart. Tá slí eile ann. The Taoiseach should reflect on the fate of low and middle income families and disadvantaged communities, already in difficulties under his austerity policy. It is no accident he supports the treaty. Fine Gael and its partner, the Labour Party, have adapted a strategy which is about cuts to public services and the privatisation of State assets. The treaty, if ratified, will place an economic straitjacket on the people of this State for decades. Its debt and deficit limits are draconian and will be imposed on a people crying out for investment in jobs and growth.

The Taoiseach said he wants to be the Taoiseach who retrieves Ireland's economic sovereignty, yet he asks citizens to vote in favour of a treaty that hands significant new powers over to the European Court of Justice and the European Commission. These powers will allow these institutions to impose economic policies on democratically elected Governments and to impose heavy fines where they believe these policies have not been adhered to. How can the Taoiseach claim to be for restoring sovereignty while giving away important Irish fiscal and budgetary powers to unelected bureaucrats?

I am not surprised by the Taoiseach's support for this treaty or indeed Fianna Fáil's - most of Fianna Fáil anyway. Fianna Fáil is in something of a dilemma. The party leader has spelt out his party's support for the treaty while its deputy leader has refused to commit himself to voting for the treaty. What does the Fianna Fáil leadership do in these circumstances? It attacks Sinn Féin.

It is no accident either that Fianna Fáil, Labour and Fine Gael were all part of the cosy consensus for cuts and that this Government is dutifully implementing the economic policies of the last Fianna Fáil-led Government. All three have advocated cuts to public services and to the imposition of stealth taxes as the way of tackling the financial crisis. Sinn Féin believes if ratified, this austerity treaty will have a profound and adverse impact on the economy and people for decades to come.

Irish economic growth forecasts have been downgraded continuously. At the beginning of February, the Central Bank lowered economic growth forecast for this year from 1.8% to 0.5% while the Economic and Social Research Institute predicts growth of only 0.9%. Tá na figiúirí seo ag tabhairt dúshláin dháiríre don Rialtas agus, níos tábhachtaí, ar son mheas an ghéilleagar Éireannaigh agus ar son dhul chun cinn. The reality is austerity is not working.

Earlier the Taoiseach said, "Approaching this European Council meeting in a non-crisis mode is a welcome development". I sometimes wonder in what world taoisigh live. Is it a non-crisis when 500,000 people are unemployed? When one considers the cuts to essential public services and their consequences, the numbers of young people leaving our shores, the cuts to DEIS schools, the slashing of school guidance counsellors, the attack on rural communities, families in mortgage distress, the crisis in our health service and the imposition of cuts to community employment schemes, anyone with any sense would know we are in a crisis.

Recent figures confirmed what many of us on the Sinn Féin benches have been saying for some time. The Government's austerity taxes are disproportionately impacting on lower and middle income families, yet the Government has plans to cut a further €8.6 billion from the economy in the next three years to meet the troika deficit target of 3%. The austerity treaty demands that this be reduced to a 0.5% target. At some point, will the Taoiseach explain how he intends to accomplish this? It has been predicted this will mean a further €6 billion in cuts and new taxes. The people cannot afford this treaty.

I know the Taoiseach is busy having a conversation with his colleague but there is an alternative approach if he cares to hear it.

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